TREASURY

Gulf (Military Presence)

Tam Dalyell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost of maintaining a military presence in the Persian Gulf in the last three months.

Paul Boateng: It would be premature to make such an estimate but we expect the costs of the military campaign to be covered by the £3 billion reserve announced by the Chancellor in the Budget.

Growth Prospects

John Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his current assessment is of growth prospects in (a) the UK and (b) the euro area.

Paul Boateng: The Government published their latest forecasts for the UK economy in the Budget on April 9. We forecast:
	The UK economy to grow by 2 to 2½ per cent. this year, rising to 3 to 3½ per cent. next year.
	The euro area economy to grow by 1 per cent. this year, rising to 2¼ per cent. next year.

Competitiveness

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had since the Budget with representatives of manufacturing industry regarding competitiveness.

Paul Boateng: Treasury Ministers meet regularly with manufacturing representatives to discuss a wide range of issues and this Government has introduced a series of measures to promote business efficiency, investment and competitiveness.

BCCI

Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the Inland Revenue's action relating to the former employees of BCCI.

Dawn Primarolo: I understand that Revenue officials are continuing to provide guidance on the tax aspects of the proposed BCCI settlement, and I hope it will prove possible to finalise the tax position of ex-employees in the near future.

Tax Credits Helplines

Joan Humble: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what support is being given to staff working on the tax credits helplines to enable them to deal with the workload.

Dawn Primarolo: The revenue has been able to support its staff employed in the Tax Credit Contact Centres by:
	Providing an initial and comprehensive training package followed by additional, supplementary training as the workload has changed.
	Backing this up with rapid escalation processes for more complex or difficult calls.
	Bringing several hundred additional staff onto the helpline when the number of calls started to increase in early April.
	Managers working closely and quickly with staff and their trade unions to resolve any local pressures or concerns that may develop.

Aid Statistics

David Cairns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress the UK is making on the target ratio of aid to national income.

John Healey: The Government remain fully committed to reaching the UN target of an official development assistance to Gross National Income ratio (ODA/GNI ratio) of 0.7 per cent. In the 2002 Spending Review the Government made substantial increases to the aid budget. The UK's level of official development assistance will be increased to 0.33 per cent. by 2003–04, up from 0.26 per cent. in 1997, and will reach 0.40 per cent. of GNI by 2005–06. This is the largest ever increase in UK aid and represents a 93 per cent. real terms increase since 1997.
	Aid effectiveness is also important as well as aid volumes. We are committed to redirecting the development assistance budget to the poorest countries, particularly those with effective governments pursuing high growth and pro-poor economic and social policies. In addition, the Government have untied all their aid as from 1 April 2001.

Bank of England

Teddy Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what difference has been recorded in the present value of the reserves in consequence of the instruction to the Bank of England to sell gold and to invest in particular currencies.

John Healey: The restructuring of the reserves portfolio announced in May 1999 was a long-term, prudent restructuring to reduce the risk of over-exposure to a single asset. As such it is inappropriate to measure gains or losses resulting from fluctuations in market values on a particular day or over a short-term period.
	Once account is taken of all the elements of the restructuring programme, including earnings on foreign currency assets purchased from the proceeds of the sale, the annualised return on the assets invested in (from the sales of gold to the end of May 2003) was approximately 9 per cent. per annum in US dollar terms.

Debt Relief

Andrew Love: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proposals he has for further debt relief to be agreed by the G8 group of countries.

John Healey: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by the Chancellor earlier today to my right hon. Friend the Member for Coatbridge and Chryston (Mr. Clarke).

Cancer

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what changes have been recorded over the past 20 years in the (a) survival and (b) mortality rates in men diagnosed with (i) prostate, (ii) lung, (iii) bowel and (iv) testicular cancer; and what geographical trends have been identified in the incidence of cancer in men.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from J. Pullinger to Mr Nicholas Winterton, dated 12 June 2003
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question concerning what changes have been recorded over the last 20 years in the (a) survival and (b) mortality rates in men diagnosed with (i) prostate, (ii) lung, (iii) bowel and (iv) testicular cancer; and what geographical trends have been identified in the incidence of cancer in men. I am replying in his absence. (118562)
	Long term trends in cancer incidence, mortality, prevalence and survival for prostate, lung, bowel and testicular cancer, and all other major cancers, for England and Wales have been published in Cancer Trends in England and Wales 1950–1999 1 . This is available on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme health/cancertrends 5099.pdf
	This publication includes the latest available cancer survival analyses for England and Wales. Survival rates for major cancers by sex and age-group are presented, with trends for cases diagnosed in the early 1970s up to those diagnosed in the early 1990s.
	The Office for National Statistics is currently collaborating with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to update the cancer survival statistics in this volume with figures for the 20 commonest cancers in England and Wales. This will cover adult patients diagnosed during 1991–99 and followed up to the end of 2001. The results will be published later this year.
	The publication Cancer Trends in England and Wales 1950–19991 contains analyses of mortality from all major cancers over the period 1950–1999. Variations in cancer incidence by geographical area within the UK are also described in this publication.
	Data on cancer incidence by geographical area for 1998 and 1999, and mortality for 2000 and 2001 are available on the National Statistics website.
	1 Quinn M, Babb P, Brock A, et al. Cancer Trends in England and Wales 1950–1999. Series SMPS No. 66. London: Office for National Statistics, 2001.

Customs and Excise

Alan Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the working hours of the local Swansea Customs team have been spent (a) in their home areas and (b) outside their home areas during the past two years.

John Healey: Over the past two years the Swansea Customs team have spent approximately 40 per cent. of their operational time in Swansea. Of the 60 per cent. of the time they spent elsewhere, the majority was at Cardiff International airport.

Customs and Excise

Alan Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what seizures have been made by the Swansea local Customs team in (a) their own area and (b) outside their own area in the past two years.

John Healey: The Swansea Customs team have, in the last two years, made 19 seizures in Swansea. These included 156,750 cigarettes, some small seizures of hand rolled tobacco and spirits and two knives.
	Operating elsewhere over the same period, the team made a further 48 seizures mostly at Cardiff International airport. These comprised 633,520 cigarettes, some small seizures of hand rolled tobacco and a small number of other minor seizures.
	The team made no Class A drug seizures over the two-year period.

Customs and Excise

Jackie Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what plans there are for further co-operative working between the Customs and Excise departments of the UK and Eire;
	(2)  what meetings have taken place in the last two years between the Customs and Excise Service of the Republic of Ireland and the UK Customs and Excise concerning co-operative working to tackle (a) drugs smuggling, (b) cigarette smuggling, (c) oil smuggling and (d) illegal immigration.

John Healey: Customs work closely with the Republic of Ireland (as well as other member states) on a number of issues and meet with them regularly, both bilaterally and as part of larger meetings.
	These meetings take place at both the high level to discuss strategic plans for future working and also at operational levels to discuss specific cases. There is consequently a regular flow of information between UK Customs and Excise and their Republic of Ireland counterparts in relation to suspect drug consignments and cash related movements, cigarette smuggling and oils smuggling.
	Illegal immigration is not an assigned matter for either Service.

Customs and Excise

Jackie Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the role of Customs officers is in implementing anti-terrorism measures.

John Healey: Customs has prime responsibility for controls on the movement of goods into and out of the United Kingdom, including the detection of terrorist material. A significant part of the £330 million announced by the Chancellor in the Budget for counter-terrorism purposes will be used to equip Customs with new technology and staff measures to assist their detection effort.

Customs and Excise

Jackie Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many times in the past two years the Customs and Excise National Strike Force has undertaken operational duties in west Wales.

John Healey: The National Strike Force was deployed to Wales 16 times over the last two years. On at least 12 occasions they were operating in west Wales.

Customs and Excise

Gwyn Prosser: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost was of paying travel and subsistence allowances to customs officers serving in the South East Region Enforcement Team in (a) 1999, (b) 2001 and (c) 2002; and what estimate he has made of the cost of paying travel and subsistance allowances to customs officers serving in the South East Region Enforcement Team in (i) 2003, (ii) 2004 and (iii) 2005.

John Healey: There is not, and never has been, a South East Region Enforcement Team in Customs and Excise. Following changes in customs' management structure in 2001, an enlarged Law Enforcement South Region was created. Travel, subsistence and other expenses are paid in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Service Management Code.

Customs and Excise

Jackie Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the working hours of the local Pembroke Customs team have been spent (a) in and (b) outside their home areas during the past two years.

John Healey: During the last two years, the Pembroke Customs team have spent 80 per cent. of their time in Pembroke and Fishguard and 20 per cent. elsewhere, largely at Cardiff International airport.

Customs and Excise

Jackie Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what seizures have been made by the Pembroke local Customs team (a) in and (b) outside their own area in the past two years.

John Healey: The Pembroke Customs team have made one significant seizure, of 1.2 million cigarettes, in Pembroke in the past two years. This seizure was a result of a specific operation, based on intelligence gathered from outside Wales. In addition, the team made a small number of minor seizures of cigarettes, hand rolled tobacco, spirits and beer, in Pembroke and Fishguard.
	Elsewhere, over the last two years, the Pembroke Customs team seized 481,290 cigarettes at Cardiff International Airport, and made a small number of minor seizures of cigarettes and hand rolled tobacco elsewhere.
	The Pembroke Customs team made no significant drug seizures over the past two years.

Customs and Excise

Jackie Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what seizures have been made by the Customs and Excise National Strike Force in west Wales in the last two years.

John Healey: The National Strike Force have been deployed to Wales 16 times in the past two years. Their seizures have included £500,000 cash and over 5.6 million in cigarettes in west Wales and the borders.

Electoral Statistics

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will list the 100 wards with the greatest fall in electorate over the last three years, giving the (a) percentage fall, (b) total numbers of electors and (c) political make-up in each case;
	(2)  if he will list the 100 constituencies with the greatest fall in electorate over the last three years by (a) percentage and (b) total number.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from John Pullinger to Chris Ruane, dated 12 June 2003
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent questions concerning the 100 constituencies and wards with the greatest fall in electorate over the last three years. I am replying in his absence. (118903, 118904)
	I am placing in the House of Commons Library a table showing the percentage change and total number change of the 100 parliamentary constituencies with the greatest fall in electorate over the period 16 February 1999 to 1 December 2002. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) did not publish electoral data for parliamentary constituencies as at 16 February 2000 and this is why figures for 1999 have been used.
	ONS does not produce electoral statistics on ward boundaries. The lowest geography at which electoral statistics are published is parliamentary constituencies. Electoral statistics on ward boundaries are only available from each individual local authority.

Equitable Life

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Penrose Inquiry into Equitable Life is expected to report.

Paul Boateng: The timetable for his report is a matter for Lord Penrose. He has said that he expects to report to Treasury Ministers later in the summer.

Equitable Life

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Ombudsman's inquiries are outstanding pending the conclusion of the Penrose Inquiry.

Paul Boateng: This is a matter for the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (the Ombudsman) who, as an Officer of the House, is independent of the Government.

Taxation of Savings Directive

Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it is his Department's policy to accept the ruling of the President of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities that UK Overseas Territories are under no legal requirement to implement the EU Savings Tax Directive.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentleman to my reply to the hon. Member for Romford (Mr. Rosindell), 10 June 2003, Official Report, column 748W.

Taxation of Savings Directive

Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the constitutional arrangements governing the relationship between the UK and UK overseas territories with regard to financial policy.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentleman to my reply to the hon. Member for Romford (Mr. Rosindell) on 3 June 2003, Official Report, column 196W.

Taxation of Savings Directive

Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it is his policy that overseas and dependent territories will make the final decision on their implementation of EU Savings Tax Directive.

Dawn Primarolo: The purpose of the EU Taxation of Savings Directive is to ensure that UK and other EU residents pay the tax due on all their savings income. All of the relevant associated and dependent territories, apart from the Cayman Islands, have made commitments that they will apply the same measures as in the Directive. The UK will do its utmost, within the framework of its constitutional arrangements, to ensure that appropriate measures in respect of all the relevant dependent or associated territories are in place in time for the Directive to come into effect from 1 January 2005.

G8 Summit

Harold Best: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on progress made at the G8 Summit (a) on greater debt relief and (b) financing for development.

John Healey: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer which my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer gave in the Chamber earlier today to my right hon. Friend the Member for Coatbridge and Chryston (Mr. Clarke), and my hon. Friends the Members for Bristol, West (Valerie Davey) and for Conwy (Mrs. Williams).

Illegal Meat Importation

Jackie Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Customs and Excise staff will be employed in Wales to implement the new legislation on illegal meat importation; and where they will be based.

John Healey: Customs' new anti-smuggling teams targeted at illegal meat imports are mobile and will be deployed at any UK port or airport. Locations of their deployment will be varied according to risk. All anti-smuggling staff who cover Wales now include illegal meat among their responsibilities.

Intelligence Officers (Wales)

Jackie Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether extra intelligence officers will be employed in Wales to counteract the loss of front-line anti-smuggling officers.

John Healey: Customs will maintain the current intelligence resource levels, but will deploy them differently to combat the changing nature of criminality in Wales. They will work more closely with partner law enforcement agencies to focus on the threats posed whether they are drugs, other illegal goods or terrorism. In particular, they are joining with South Wales, Gwent and Dyfed Powys police forces to form a new Joint Intelligence Cell in Bridgend. They will make use of constant quality intelligence sources, from all over the world, and be able to determine the necessary Customs response to call upon mobile teams whether the threat is inland or at ports or airports.
	Moreover, under Customs' plans there will be an overall increase in the deployment of mobile teams to Wales, from a contingent of 100 officers based in Wales and the West Midlands, supported by the National Strike Force. This capability to deploy larger numbers of officers on unpredictable targeted operations will provide a real deterrence to professional smugglers and bootleggers.

Postal Services (VAT)

Colin Breed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to introduce VAT on postal services.

John Healey: The European Commission has recently published proposals to amend the provisions of the Sixth VAT Directive concerning the VAT arrangements applicable to postal services. Postal services provided by the universal service provider, Royal Mail, are currently exempt from VAT, and the Government believe that the vital social role played by the universal postal service should continue to be reflected in the tax system. The Government are therefore opposed to VAT on stamps, and will make this clear in negotiations on the proposals. Amendments to the Sixth VAT Directive must be agreed unanimously by member states.

Rosyth

Peter Duncan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the level of Customs and Excise operations deployed to monitor ferry arrivals and departures through Rosyth, during each month since the service commenced.

John Healey: Since the service commenced Customs officers have met every ferry arrival. Departures have been monitored according to risk based on intelligence.

Unitary Authority Workers' Earnings

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of full-time workers in (a) Scotland, (b) each of the unitary local authority areas in Scotland and (c) Great Britain have hourly earnings gross pay (i) including and (ii) excluding overtime, below (A) £7.41, (B) £5.55 and (C) £4.20 in the categories (1) male manual, (2) male non-manual, (3) all male workers, (4) female manual, (5) female non-manual, (6) all female workers, (7) all manual, (8) all non-manual and (9) all workers.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Annabelle Ewing, dated 12 June 2003
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question on the distribution of average hourly earnings for workers in Great Britain, Scotland and the unitary authorities in Scotland. I am replying in his absence. (118711)
	I have arranged for the data requested to be placed in the House of Commons Library. The information provided shows the proportion of people earning below the different thresholds you listed, both including overtime (Table 1) and excluding overtime (Table 2).
	The NES can provide earnings data for small geographical areas. However, the release of NES data is restricted to figures that are derived from a sufficiently large sample of employees, and have an acceptable level of accuracy and I have provided the available data for Scotland, the unitary authorities in Scotland and Great Britain only for those areas where the samples are large enough. These are based on the 2002 NES, the latest survey for which data are available.

Unitary Authority Workers' Earnings

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) weekly median earnings and (b) distribution of earnings are for those earning (i) under the point below which 10 per cent.of earners fall and (ii) the point above which 10 per cent. of earners exceed, broken down by (A) all manual, (B) all non-manual, (C) all workers, (D) male manual, (E) male non-manual, (F) all male workers, (G) female manual, (H) female non-manual and (I) all female workers in (1) Scotland and (2) each of the unitary local authority areas in Scotland.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from C. Mowl to Annabelle Ewing, dated 12 June 2003
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question concerning the distribution of weekly earnings for workers in Scotland and the unitary authorities in Scotland. I am replying in his absence. (118712)
	I refer you to the answer given to your previous question 99978, Official Report No. 64, col 541, which contains the information requested.
	The April 2003 New Earnings Survey data is expected to be published in mid-October 2003.

World Bank/International Monetary Fund

Harold Best: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on reform of representation of poor countries on the World Bank and IMF.

John Healey: In our 2000 White Paper—"Eliminating World Poverty: Making Globalisation Work for the Poor"—the Government made a commitment to strengthen the voice of developing countries in the international system. We are actively pursuing this agenda in three broad ways both at the IMF and World Bank.
	Firstly, strengthening developing country offices in the IMF and World Bank. Many of these offices suffer from a lack of capacity, combined with a heavy workload. That is why, earlier this year, we pushed for the provision of extra staff to the Sub-Saharan African offices. This was subsequently agreed at both the Fund and Bank. We also support the provision of more training opportunities, improved links between Washington-based delegations and their Capitals and the creation of a Fund that these offices can draw on to finance analysis.
	Secondly, we actively encourage the two institutions to recognise their own role in strengthening the representation of developing countries, for example through increased staff diversity.
	Thirdly, increasing developing country representation and voting rights on the Executive Board. The UK believes that the issues of developing country representation on the Executive Board—particularly for Africa—and increasing the basic vote, both merit serious consideration.
	All of these issues are being discussed at both the IMF and World Bank and the UK will continue to push for early and substantive progress.

World Bank/International Monetary Fund

David Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the need for greater representation for poor countries on (a) the World Bank and (b) the International Monetary Fund.

John Healey: The Department for International Development and the Treasury continually assess the effectiveness of the IMF and World Bank. And a central pillar of our efforts to increase their effectiveness has been to encourage greater developing country ownership of policy reforms and decisions.
	Experience suggests that when countries 'own' their policies, they are more likely to implement them. That is why both IMF and World Bank resources are increasingly being used in support of country-led strategies, such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers.
	This ownership agenda also extends to the institutions themselves. In our 2000 White Paper—"Eliminating World Poverty: Making Globalisation Work for the Poor"—the Government made a commitment to strengthen the voice of developing countries in the international system. The need to address this problem was subsequently endorsed by all UN member states at the International Conference on Financing for Development in March 2002.
	Since then the IMF and World Bank have been actively progressing this agenda, most recently at their spring meetings in April. The UK has strongly supported this work and will continue to push for early and substantive progress.

World Poverty

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what contribution the UK is making towards meeting the 2015 targets for reducing world poverty.

John Healey: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Gower (Mr. Caton) on 11 June 2003, Official Report, column 754W.

World Summit on Sustainable Development

John Horam: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which United Kingdom commitments arising from the World Summit on Sustainable Development (a) have been incorporated into the Department's existing delivery plan for Service Delivery Agreements and (b) will be incorporated in its delivery plan for Service Delivery Agreement in advance of the 2004 Spending Review.

John Healey: The Chancellor and I welcome the outcome and commitments made at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) last year, and will work with other Government Departments and in the international community to meet them.
	In relation to the 2003–06 Spending Review period, the Treasury has adopted a specific Service Delivery Agreement (SDA 10.1) to work with other Departments and with other EU partners to appraise the sustainable development implications of policy proposals. Although the Treasury's current Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets do not specifically refer to WSSD commitments, as they were agreed before the Summit, PSA 4 is relevant to WSSD commitments. It reads:
	[To] promote UK economic prospects by pursuing increased productivity and efficiency in the EU, international financial stability and increased global prosperity, including especially protecting the most vulnerable.
	Fulfilling this objective includes promoting increased global prosperity and social justice, through working to increase the number of countries, including the poorest, successfully integrated into the global economy, making progress on debt relief through the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative and progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
	Decisions as to what may be incorporated into delivery plans in advance of the 2004 Spending Review have not yet been reached.

PRIME MINISTER

Inquiries

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Prime Minister how many (a) public and (b) judicial inquiries the Government have set up into events which took place (i) before and (ii) after May 1997; and how much they have so far cost.

Tony Blair: Since May 1997 two inquiries have been established under the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921: the Bloody Sunday Inquiry (1998) under Lord Saville and the Shipman Inquiry (2000) under Dame Janet Smith DBE. The latest available costs are £107.6 million and £11.75 million respectively.
	There have been a number of inquiries of different forms established since May 1997 either under other statutory provisions or on an ad hoc, non-statutory basis, dealing with events both before and after 1997. Examples include:
	The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry (established 1997), under Sir William McPherson;
	The BSE Inquiry (1997), under Lord Phillips;
	The Ladbroke Grove Inquiry (1999) under Lord Cullen;
	The Royal Liverpool Children's Inquiry (1999) under Mr. Michael Redfern QC.
	There have also been a large number of other inquiries under various statutes, for example planning inquiries, inquiries into road schemes and inquiries into local health service issues.
	A comprehensive list of all inquiries and their costs is not maintained centrally. Thursday 12 June 2003

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Common Agricultural Policy

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what further action he will take to ensure that the common agricultural policy and international trade rules are reformed in order to promote trade for poor countries.

Hilary Benn: As it stands, the EU common agricultural policy imposes high costs on developing countries and is unsustainable as EU enlargement becomes operational. We are committed to reaching agreement by June on the current proposals for reform of the common agricultural policy, as a first important step towards broader EU agriculture reforms in future.
	Agreement on EU CAP reform and movement of the US position on export credits and food aid are key to ensuring a successful outcome in Cancun. DFID is working hard—both through officials' and high-level meetings—to ensure that the WTO agriculture negotiations don't stall and that current polarisation is overcome. Our objective is a set of trade rules which meet the commitments made in Doha to making this round a true "development" round, by taking adequate account of the special needs of developing countries.

Debt Relief

Harold Best: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what proposals his Department has to encourage greater involvement of poor countries in the decision-making process of debt relief initiatives.

Hilary Benn: The UK was influential in getting agreement, at the 1999 Annual Meetings of the World bank and IMF, to the consultation process on the design of the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative being widened to include developing countries. In order to ensure developing country involvement in discussions about the delivery of debt relief, we and other donor countries are co-financing the HIPC Ministerial Network, as part of the HIPC Capacity Building Project. This network, which held its first meeting in Copenhagen in November 1999, brings together, once or twice a year, Finance Ministers and senior officials from all of the HIPC countries to discuss issues relating to the design and implementation of the HIPC Initiative. These meetings help to inform our own views on debt issues. The Commonwealth HIPC Forum also provides an important platform for Ministers from HIPC countries to discuss matters of mutual interest, and has stimulated wider debate within the Commonwealth, as well as within the International Financial Institutions themselves. The UK also contributed to the recent review of the HIPC Initiative by the Operations Evaluations Department (OED) of the World Bank, and funded two meetings between the evaluators and HIPC representatives, to allow HIPC countries to feed in their views. The OED report has now been published.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Edward Leigh: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development if he will make a statement on the purpose of the Interim Emergency Multinational Force to be deployed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with particular reference to disarming the militia groups in Ituri province.

Hilary Benn: The objectives of the Interim Emergency Multinational Force (IEMF) are to assist the UN by providing a short-term interim force to enable the reinforcement of the UN MONUC forces in Bunia in the Ituri province. The IEMF aims to contribute to the security of Bunia in order to allow the Ituri Interim Administration to function and improve the humanitarian situation. It also aims to protect the airport and the internally displaced persons in the camps in Bunia and, if the situation requires it, contribute to the safety of the population and of UN personnel in the town. The disarming of militia groups, most of which are outside Bunia, will not be part of the IEMF's mandate.

Fair Trade

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what initiatives he will bring forward at the September World Trade Organisation's ministerial meeting in Mexico in order to promote trade for poor countries; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: The EU is committed to giving developing countries better trading opportunities through greater access to both its agricultural and non-agricultural markets by reducing tariff barriers, tackling all forms of export subsidies and substantially reducing trade-distorting domestic support. The Government are working with its partners, both in the EU and internationally, to ensure that developing countries gain real benefits from the Doha round of World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations. Critical to this effort will be securing a successful outcome at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun in September. This will require real progress on the issues that matter most developing countries such as agriculture, TRIPS and public health, and special and differential treatment.
	In addition, the Government are funding a variety of initiatives to help developing countries to set their own trade policies to reduce poverty. This includes improving developing countries' ability to negotiate favourable deals in trade negotiations, helping them interpret trade agreements, and supporting them in taking advantage of new international trading opportunities. To this end, the government have committed £45 million to trade-related capacity building since 1998.

Fair Trade

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development whether he will meet a delegation from CAFOD to discuss Trade Justice during the week commencing 23 June 2003.

Hilary Benn: DFID is hosting an open day to discuss trade and development issues on 26 June 2003. All members of the UK Trade Network—a grouping of non-governmental organisations working on trade and development issues of which CAFOD is a member— have been invited. I will be speaking to members of the UK Trade Network during the morning session and hope to meet the CAFOD delegation then.

G8 Summit

Harold Best: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development if he will make a statement on the debt relief and the Millennium Development Goals outcomes of the G8 Summit in Evian.

Hilary Benn: The G8 met in Evian on 1 to 3 June 2003 and discussed a number of issues relating to international development:
	on Africa, significant progress was made on areas such as conflict resolution. It was agreed to expand the group of Africa Personal Representatives and meet at the Africa Partners Forum in November 2003;
	the G8 supported the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, as part of wider work on corruption. We are now working towards a Conference on the Initiative in mid-June 2003;
	there was support for the International Finance Facility, which would significantly increase volumes of aid, up to 2015. Finance Ministers were asked to report by September 2003 on financing instruments, including this facility;
	there was a commitment to making the WTO Ministerial Cancun a success;
	the outcome on Access to Medicines includes some specific actions for G8 countries, which we will push forward in coming months in our country programmes;
	the UK announced a further $80 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, while calling for improvements in its management. Other EU countries will announce their commitments at the European Council in late June 2003; and
	the G8 renewed their commitment to eradicating polio by 2005.
	On the issue of debt relief, the G8 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the full implementation and financing of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. They agreed that the World bank and IMF should be asked to: identify, by their next annual meetings, the specific impediments to further progress in each country and the steps needed to tackle them; intensify their efforts to secure the full participation of all creditors by exploring further options to deal with litigation issues; and review by this coming September, the methodology for calculating the amount of 'topping up' debt relief available to countries at Completion Point based on updated cost estimates, including the impact on commodity price fluctuations, so that countries exit the HIPC process with sustainable levels of debt.

Landmines

Norman Lamb: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development if she will place copies of the most recent reports and recommendations on (a) Kosovo, (b) Cambodia and (c) Sudan by the Department's consultant adviser on mine action in the Library.

Hilary Benn: I will arrange for copies of the required reports to be placed in the Libraries of the House. It should be noted that these reports and the opinions expressed in them should not be interpreted as necessarily reflecting the views or policy of DFID.

Sustainable Development

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development when the departmental strategy for sustainable development will be published; and what steps are being taken or are planned to take forward the actions outlined.

Hilary Benn: DFID's strategy to implement the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate was published, in accordance with the DEFRA guidelines, on our internet site at www.dfid.gov.uk in October 2002. This sets out timetables and planned activities to meet the relevant targets which have been set so far. The website information will also be updated to reflect the progress to date.

UK Overseas Territories

Graham Brady: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development how much was paid in aid to each UK overseas territory since 1993.

Hilary Benn: DFID bilateral disbursements in respect of the Overseas Territories for each of the UK financial years from 1993/94 to 2002/03 are set out in the table below. All 2002/03 figures are provisional at this stage.
	
		£000Country/YearTotal DFID Programme
		
			  
			  
			 Anguilla  
			 1993–94 3,271 
			 1994–95 2,142 
			 1995–96 1,226 
			 1996–97 1,362 
			 1997–98 2,520 
			 1998–99 1,977 
			 1999–2000 2,058 
			 2000–01 2,234 
			 2001–02 1,847 
			 2002–03 (provisional) 1,040 
			 Bermuda  
			 1993–94 24 
			 1994–95 37 
			 1995–96 30 
			 1996–97 57 
			 1997–98 30 
			 1998–99 0 
			 1999–2000 13 
			 2000–01 4 
			 2001–02 0 
			 2002–03 (provisional) 0 
			 British Virgin Islands  
			 1993–94 1,515 
			 1994–95 308 
			 1995–96 592 
			 1996–97 1,085 
			 1997–98 604 
			 1998–99 622 
			 1999–2000 517 
			 2000–01 186 
			 2001–02 89 
			 2002–03 (provisional) 90 
			 Cayman Islands  
			 1993–94 3 
			 1994–95 86 
			 1995–96 21 
			 1996–97 0 
			 1997–98 0 
			 1998–99 23 
			 1999–00 18 
			 2000–01 20 
			 2001–02 3 
			 2002–03 (provisional) 0 
			 Falkland Islands  
			 1993–94 12 
			 1994–95 88 
			 1995–96 19 
			 1996–97 4 
			 1997–98 0 
			 1998–99 0 
			 1999–2000 0 
			 2000–01 0 
			 2001–02 0 
			 2002–03 (provisional) 0 
			 Gibraltar  
			 1993–94 142 
			 1994–95 179 
			 1995–96 77 
			 1996–97 118 
			 1997–98 54 
			 1998–99 28 
			 1999–2000 23 
			 2000–01 27 
			 2001–02 23 
			 2002–03 (provisional) 6 
			 Montserrat  
			 1993–94 5,689 
			 1994–95 5,766 
			 1995–96 6,554 
			 1996–97 14,441 
			 1997–98 37,866 
			 1998–99 31,096 
			 1999–2000 22,640 
			 2000–2001 20,811 
			 2001–2002 24,417 
			 2002–2003 (provisional) 23,797 
			 Pitcairn Island  
			 1993–94 108 
			 1994–95 180 
			 1995–96 203 
			 1996–97 160 
			 1997–98 76 
			 1998–99 148 
			 1999–2000 99 
			 2000–01 18 
			 2001–02 26 
			 2002–03 (provisional) 34 
			 St Helena (and Tristan DaCunha)  
			 1993–94 9,057 
			 1994–95 8,161 
			 1995–96 9,267 
			 1996–97 7,990 
			 1997–98 8,765 
			 1998–99 8,805 
			 1999–2000 9,363 
			 2000–01 10,116 
			 2001–02 10,106 
			 2002–03 (provisional) 8,533 
			 Turks and Caicos Islands  
			 1993–94 10,049 
			 1994–95 4,387 
			 1995–96 2,674 
			 1996–97 3,031 
			 1997–98 2,569 
			 1998–99 3,808 
			 1999–2000 4,044 
			 2000–01 2,848 
			 2001–02 2,754 
			 2002–03 (provisional) 1,528 
		
	
	In addition, European Development Fund cumulative allocations to the UK Overseas territories since 1993 total some €86.33 million (about £57.55 million). This sum, some of which is still being committed to or spent on approved development activities, has been shared amongst eligible UK Overseas Territories as follows:
	
		
			  Euros £ Sterling(approx thousands) 
			 Anguilla 14,450 9,633 
			 British Virgin Islands 4,900 3,266 
			 Cayman Islands 1, 600 1,067 
			 Montserrat 24,900 16,600 
			 St Helena (and Tristan Da Cunha) 18,150 12,100 
			 Turks & Caicos Islands 16,280 10,853 
			 Falkland Islands 3,700 2,467 
			 Pitcairn Island 2,350 1,566 
		
	
	The UK share of the above EOF allocations over the period is estimated at some €10.79 million (approximately £7.2 million).

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

3G Network

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what regulations the Department plans to introduce in conjunction with the mobile telecom industry to protect minors from adult content viewed over the 3G network.

Stephen Timms: The industry is in the process of drawing up a self-regulatory code of practice, which will introduce safeguards to protect minors from accessing adult content via mobile phones.

Arbre Project

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  whether the Arbre project will qualify for bioenergy funds under the (a) Bioenergy Capital Growth Scheme and (b) Energy Crops Scheme to help farmers and foresters establish energy crops; and what representations she has received to make these grants to the Arbre project;
	(2)  when the Arbre project will be in position to take willow coppice to the Vale of York;
	(3)  whether farmers with contracts to supply willow coppice to the Arbre project may be compensated under the (a) Bioenergy Capital Grant Scheme and (b) Energy Crops Scheme following the plant going into liquidation.

Brian Wilson: The Bioenergy Capital Grants Scheme is a joint DTI/New Opportunities Fund scheme to provide support towards the capital costs of new bioenergy plant. All of the available £66 million of funding has been allocated to 21 projects throughout the United Kingdom.
	Defra's Energy Crops Scheme provides grants to establish crops for any valid heat, combined heat and power and electricity generation end use. Grants of £280,000 have been made to plant 280 hectares of short rotation coppice (SRC) under the Energy Crops Scheme. 1,157 hectares of SRC had previously been planted under the Forestry Commission's Woodland Grant Scheme at a cost of approximately £1 million.
	Funding for the capital cost of the Arbre demonstration project has come from the European Commission and the project partners, with support for the establishment of energy crops coming from the Forestry Commission and Defra.
	DTI have not received a request for assistance from the purchasers of the Arbre plant, but have agreed to consider any proposals to minimise the technology risk of taking the plant to full operation. Any support would be from our research and development programme.
	In terms of the farmers with contracts to supply the Arbre project, that is essentially a commercial undertaking between the farmers and the owners of the plant. No compensation would be paid from the schemes mentioned.
	Defra's Energy Crops Scheme provides a one-off payment when the crop is established. It is a condition of the grant that the crop is used to produce energy. Arbre growers are setting up a producer group to harvest and market their energy crops with assistance from the Energy Crops Scheme and Objective 1 funding. The scheme does not restrict growers to supplying the Arbre plant and they can seek alternative markets.
	Whether the crops come from the Vale of York is a matter for the owners of the Arbre plant as they decide on a route to commercial operation of the plant.

Arms Trade

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list, by year, the licences, including military and dual use ratings, granted for the export of small arms to all countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Nigel Griffiths: Prior to May 1997 previous Administrations have not considered it appropriate routinely to publish information on individual licensing decisions. Since May 1997 details of all export licences issued for small arms are published by destination in the Government's Annual Report on Strategic Export Controls, copies of which are available from the Libraries of the House.

Arms Trade

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received from the UK Working Group on Arms as part of her consultation on the secondary legislation for the Export Control Act 2002.

Nigel Griffiths: The UK Working Group on Arms (UKWGA) has submitted two separate responses to the consultation on the Export Control Act 2002 draft secondary legislation.

Biofuels

Gillian Shephard: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which Minister in her Department is responsible for trade policy on the development of biofuels.

Brian Wilson: holding answer 9 June 2003
	As Minister for Energy, I am responsible for the development of energy generation from renewable sources including biomass. This includes both developing the home market and encouraging the industry to seek opportunities overseas. In this work I am assisted by Renewables UK, a DTI unit that I established last year. Naturally, in this I act in liaison with my hon. Friend the Minister for International Trade and Investment, with her wider responsibilities for UK Trade Policy.
	Lead responsibility within Government for the development of biofuels for transport lies with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Transport.

British Energy

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the recent loss announced by British Energy; how much public money has been given to support British Energy in each of the last three years; and what plans there are to continue this support during (a) 2003 and (b) 2004.

Brian Wilson: The bulk of British Energy's (BE) reported loss is made up of asset write-downs. These are based on expected future cash flows of the business, as reflected in the company's restructuring plan, and consequently have already been taken into consideration when considering the on-going viability of the business.
	On 9 September 2002 the Government agreed to provide BE with a credit facility for up to £410 million in respect of its working capital requirements and cash collateral for trading in the UK and North America. On 26 September 2002 the Government agreed to extend the facility and increase it from £410 million up to £650 million. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry informed the House on 7 March 2003, Official Report, column 89WS that BE had repaid to Government all outstanding amounts under the facility. On a contingency basis the facility has been extended at a reduced level of £200 million to the earlier of 30 September 2004 or the date on which the company's restructuring plan becomes effective. As part of BE's restructuring, the Government plan to meet the cost of BE's historic nuclear fuel liabilities. This will include a payment of £175 million in financial year 2004–05 in line with the Secretary of State's statement of 28 November.

Correspondence

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when letters from the hon. Member for Thurrock were recently received in her office; when they were referred to the Minister of State; why no holding letter has been sent to the hon. Member; and when she will make a substantive reply.

Patricia Hewitt: The first letter from my hon. Friend was received in my office on 6 February 2003 and was delegated to my hon. Friend the Minister for Energy and Construction on 7 February 2003, for him to reply on my behalf.
	A subsequent letter was received on 14 March 2003 and delegated again to the Minister for Energy and Construction. Unfortunately, due to an oversight, replies to neither letter were issued.
	I have now seen a copy of my hon. Friend's original letter, and after further consideration, it has been transferred to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for reply, as the subject falls within the responsibility of his Department.
	I regret the time it has taken to process these pieces of correspondence and have asked for steps to be taken to ensure that there is no repeat of the problem.

Energy Efficiency

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the targets she has set to improve energy efficiency within her Department; and how she intends to achieve those targets.

Patricia Hewitt: In common with all other Government Departments, DTI is working towards the interim energy targets for the Government Estate:
	An on-going 1 per cent. per annum reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from buildings, expressed in terms of carbon savings. New energy targets are now being developed on an assessment of the Estate's performance against national standards. Using this information, we will set new targets for reducing our energy consumption. These targets will be central to the energy section of the Framework and will be put in place during 2003.
	Minimum of 10 per cent. of green energy is purchased by March 2008
	To help meet this target, DTI undertook an estate-wide energy audit to identify areas where further savings could be made. This resulted in the enhancement of a DTI Building Energy Management System and the installation of Inverter Variable Speed Drives.
	Other measures which contribute to this target include; ISO 14001 certified Environmental Management Systems across the DTI HQ estate; 33 per cent. of electricity in the DTI HQ estate is purchased from renewable sources; promoting environmental and energy awareness to DTI staff through 'Green Teams' who disseminate green and energy issues to their colleagues; a number of specific measures such as installation of solar film for windows.

Energy Sources

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what resources have been allocated towards developing the production capabilities of (a) renewables and (b) alternative energy sources in each year since 1997.

Brian Wilson: I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) on 9 December 2002, Official Report, column 70W.

EU Enlargement

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action she has carried out to encourage British industry to prepare for the export potential provided by the entry of the 10 accession countries into 2004.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 10 June 2003
	I have ensured that my Department is active in promoting the benefits of enlargement to British industry.
	The DTI is working very closely with the Foreign Office, Cabinet Office and other Departments to help ensure that British industry does takes full advantage of the opportunities in the new markets.
	British Trade International is supporting a programme of 30 outward trade missions to the 10 accession states in this financial year.

EU Enlargement

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research her Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the export potential provided by the 10 accession countries; and if she will make a statement in terms of the effect on GDP.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 10 June 2003
	The Department has not commissioned external research on the export potential provided by the 10 accession countries.
	The Department's officials are completing an analysis of the trade and investment impact of EU enlargement, which we intend to publish as soon as possible, but research [for CEPR 1 ] forecasts that enlargement will add 1.5 per cent. to the new members' GDP and boost EU GDP by 0.2 per cent. The UK's share could be worth £1.75 billion per annum.
	[ 1 "The costs and benefits of eastern enlargement: the impact on the EU and Central Europe" Richard E. Baldwin, Joseph F. Francois and Richard Fortes, Centre for Economic Policy Research, April 1997.]

Fair Trade

Harold Best: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has for consultation with campaigners for fairer trade ahead of the 5th WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun, Mexico.

Patricia Hewitt: I meet regularly with representatives from civil society to discuss the Government's international trade policy. I last met with representatives from development NGOs on 21 May to discuss how we can ensure that this is a true development round.
	Campaigners for fairer trade help to raise the profile of trade and development issues. It is important that Government and campaigners for trade justice continue to work together to ensure that the Doha Development Agenda becomes a reality.
	A representative from action Aid will be part of the official UK delegation to the WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun and, as I announced to the House last week, I have accepted an invitation from Christian Aid to visit Guatemala prior to the Cancun meeting.

Fireworks

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the number of injuries caused by fireworks during 2002.

Melanie Johnson: The total number of persons recorded as attending hospital casualty departments in Great Britain during the 2002 bonfire night period was 1,017. This represents a decrease of 25 per cent. on the 2001 total of 1,362. There were no deaths in the 2002 bonfire night period, nor are we aware of any outside the recording period.
	Despite the welcome fall in recorded accidents, we continue to do all we can to promote safety and to prevent misuse of fireworks.
	I am arranging for copies of the injury figures together with the analytical and regional tables to be placed in the Libraries of House as well as on the DTI website: www.dti.gov.uk

Fur Imports

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Dr. Tonge) of 13 May 2003, Official Report, column 166W, what research her Department has carried out into the effectiveness of the testing of labelling schemes dealing with the importation of cat and dog fur; and what the estimated cost is of such schemes.

Patricia Hewitt: Mislabelling can already be prosecuted: it is an offence under the Trade Descriptions Act of 1968 to apply, by any means, false or misleading statements to goods including about their composition. However, the Trade Descriptions Act is difficult to enforce in the case of made-up goods containing fur until we can ensure a robust testing method for such products.
	We are working with other governments and scientific advisers to develop such an enforcement mechanism as soon as possible. The Laboratory of the Government Chemist (LGC Ltd.) have provided advice detailing why DNA testing of these products is both difficult and, as yet, unreliable (copies of this advice are available in the Libraries of the House). However, we have identified an alternative testing method (based on mass spectrometry) that may be more reliable and are working to determine whether this is the case.
	The cost of mass spectrometry testing is currently €200 per sample. However, the overall cost of any scheme to test labelling of products containing furs cannot easily be estimated. The cost would be dependent on the level of testing of products that the authorities responsible for enforcing the Trade Descriptions Act considered to be necessary.

Fur Imports

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) of 11 April 2003, Official Report, column 459W, when she will report to Parliament on the issue of the importation of cat and dog fur.

Patricia Hewitt: My noble Friend the Minister for Trade and Investment will report to Parliament on how work is progressing on this issue before the summer recess.

Gas Order

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will publish the letter of 12 March 1999 from Transco to Ofgem.

Brian Wilson: The department is not able to publish material provided to Ofgem on a confidential basis by Transco.

Gas Order

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the letter from Ofgem to Transco on 1 April 1999 constitutes a change to the Gas Order.

Brian Wilson: This issue will shortly be considered as part of a Judicial Review to which Ofgem is a party, and it would be inappropriate to comment whilst legal proceedings are underway.

Gas Order

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if there is a requirement for Ofgem to consult stakeholders before making changes to the Gas Order.

Brian Wilson: It is for Ofgem to decide on the administrative process for such changes.

Gas Order

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether there have been amendments to the Gas Order.

Brian Wilson: This issue will shortly be considered as part of a judicial review to which Ofgem is a party, and it would be inappropriate to comment whilst legal proceedings are underway.

Gas Order

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether Transco is required under the Gas Order to compensate companies if it does not provide gas connection quotations within a specific timescale.

Brian Wilson: I am advised that the payment of money to certain categories of customer in respect of delayed quotations for connections is a primary feature of Ofgem's Enforcement Order against Transco.

Horizontal Amending Directive

Syd Rapson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when her Department will publish the draft regulations and guidance on the implementation of the Horizontal Amending Directive, with particular reference to the offshore industry.

Alan Johnson: I hope to make and lay the regulations covering all sectors affected by the Horizontal Amending Directive in early July 2003, and plan to make draft guidance on them available at about the same time.

Leisure Industry

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she is taking to improve productivity in the leisure sector.

Alan Johnson: I recognise the immense contribution that the leisure sector makes to the UK economy. This is reflected in the recent creation a new team within Trade Partners UK devoted to providing support to the leisure industry—especially in the field of exporting, where we believe there is substantial potential.

Post Offices

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) rural and (b) urban (i) post offices and (ii) sub-post offices have closed in each of the last 10 years, broken down by region.

Stephen Timms: I understand from Post Office Ltd. that details of the total number of post office closures in the United Kingdom, recorded both by region/country and urban/rural classification are only available from March 2000 and are as follows:
	
		
			   2000–01  2001–02  2002–03 
			 Region Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural 
		
		
			 North East 1 4 0 10 8 1 
			 North West 11 28 9 4 25 12 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 10 40 4 17 14 12 
			 West Midlands 5 31 8 16 22 13 
			 South West 11 48 7 26 31 8 
			 South East 26 52 7 29 18 23 
			 London 9 1 17 1 43 1 
			 East of England 10 60 1 22 17 16 
			 East Midlands 3 42 5 33 24 7 
			 Northern Ireland 4 17 4 2 4 8 
			 Scotland 7 57 5 21 13 7 
			 Wales 9 61 3 23 11 7 
			 Total 106 441 68 194 230(1) 115 
		
	
	(1) Includes 102 closures under Post Office Ltd's urban reinvention programme

Primary Energy

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of total primary energy is generated by (a) renewables including heat and (b) electricity generation not including heat.

Brian Wilson: In 2002, 1.4 per cent. of the UK's total primary energy consumption was provided by renewables. This includes both renewables used to provide heat and renewables used for electricity generation. Primary electricity, namely nuclear, hydro and non-thermal renewables such as wind, accounted for 9.0 per cent. of total primary energy consumption.

Primary Energy

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of total primary energy is generated by (a) renewables including heat and (b) electricity generation not including heat in Wales.

Brian Wilson: Primary energy consumption is calculated only on a UK basis because sub-national data are not available for all components of primary energy consumption. Thus, the information requested is not available for Wales.

Renewable Energy

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of total electricity generation, not including heat, is generated by renewables.

Brian Wilson: In 2002, 3.0 per cent. of electricity generated in the UK was from renewable sources.

Wood Panel Industry

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will apply the renewables obligation to the wood panel industry.

Patricia Hewitt: The renewables obligation requires electricity suppliers in Great Britain to supply a specified and growing proportion of their electricity from renewable sources.
	Suppliers are expected to produce 10.4 per cent. of their electricity from renewable sources by 2010–11 and have three ways in which to comply with the obligation:
	through supplying eligible renewables electricity to customers in Great Britain;
	buying renewable obligation certificates independently of the power that gave rise to their issue; and/or
	paying a buy-out price to Ofgem rather than supplying renewables electricity.
	The obligation is not therefore applicable to specific industries, such as the wood panel industry.

TRANSPORT

Driving Tests

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many examiners are employed by the Driving Standards Agency, broken down by Government office region; and what plans he has to increase the number of examiners.

John Spellar: The 11 Government office regions are covered by five Driving Standards Agency area offices. The number of examiners employed in each area is as follows.
	
		
			 DSA area Government officeregions Number of examiners 
		
		
			 London and South East London, South East 324 
			 Midlands and Eastern Eastern, East Midlands, West Midlands 417 
			 Wales and Western South West, Wales 271 
			 Northern North West, North East, Yorkshire and the Humber 371 
			 Scotland Scotland 130 
			 Total  1,513 
		
	
	The agency has recently recruited over 130 driving examiners and plans to recruit a further 330 over the coming year.

Driving Tests

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the average time taken for a follow-up driving test following an initial failure to pass a test; and if he will make a statement.

John Spellar: Demand for driving tests has increased from some 1,637,000 in 2002–03 to an estimated 1,746,000 in 2003–04. As a result, the national average waiting time for a practical car driving test has risen to nine weeks, compared with the published target of six weeks. The waiting time applies to all applications for test appointments, irrespective of whether for a first or a subsequent test.
	To meet the rising demand for driving tests and to reduce waiting times the Driving Standards Agency has recently recruited over 130 driving examiners and plans to recruit 330 more in the coming year.

Parking Penalties

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when changes were last made to the penalties for parking on a single yellow line; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: Responsibility for enforcement of illegal parking on yellow lines rests with the police or, where enforcement has been decriminalised, the relevant local authority.
	Fixed penalties issued by the police for illegal parking were last changed in November 2000 when the penalty was increased from £30 to £40 in London and £20 to £30 outside London.
	Penalty charge levels for decriminalised parking enforcement (DPE) in England outside London are prescribed by the Secretary of State for Transport and were last changed in May 2001 when he prescribed that authorities may select either £40, £50 or £60 as the penalty charge. The penalty is discounted by 50 per cent. if paid within 14 days of issue of the penalty charge notice.
	Penalty charges for DPE in London are set by the Association of London Government Transport and Environment Committee and subject to approval by the Mayor. The London penalty charge bands were increased on 1 April this year to £60, £80 and £100. Again the penalty is discounted by 50 per cent. if paid within 14 days of issue of the penalty charge notice.

Rail Safety (Potters Bar)

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how he plans to respond to the conclusions and recommendations of the May Progress Report by the Health and Safety Executive Board concerning the Potters Bar derailment; what plans he has for a public inquiry into the derailment; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) and the Secretary of State for Transport will need to consider the implications of the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) Investigation Board report of 29 May, the response of the rail industry to the recommendations and the continuing British Transport Police investigation before deciding whether the issues raised by the Potters Bar derailment would benefit from investigation by a public inquiry.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Coffee

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures her Department has established to manage better the international supply of coffee.

Elliot Morley: Coffee is traded on a free market. Any attempt to intervene in the international coffee market to manage supply is unlikely to work. However, the Government share the concern for the way that coffee growers have been hit by low prices and deteriorating quality, largely as a result of global over supply and structural imbalances in the industry.
	We support action to improve the sustainability of the coffee supply chain and to improve co-operation between all market participants. The UK is a member, through the EU, of the International Coffee Organisation (ICO), a United Nations body established to, amongst other things,
	"achieve a reasonable balance between world supply and demand on a basis which will assure adequate supplies of coffee at fair prices to consumers and markets for coffee at remunerative prices to producers . . . to facilitate the expansion and transparency of international trade in coffee".
	Officials from the Department regularly attend meetings of the ICO. They also meet with representatives of the coffee trade, other interested organisations and other Government Departments with an interest in coffee matters. They also consider representations and reports provided by these organisations.

Rural Transport Partnership

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the transport schemes funded since the initiation of the Rural Transport Partnership scheme; and how much funding each scheme received.

Alun Michael: A total of 85 Rural Transport Partnerships have been funded since the launch of the scheme in 2001. Defra has provided nearly £5 million of funding for these schemes through the Countryside Agency. A complete list of the Rural Transport Partnerships and the level of funding for each scheme has been placed in the Library of the House. Further details of these schemes can be found at www.countryside.gov.uk/vitalvillages.

Abattoirs

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many working abattoirs there were in (a) 1980, (b) 1985, (c) 1990, (d) 1995 and (e) 2000; how many there are now; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The numbers of red meat abattoirs in Great Britain for the five-year intervals from 1980 until 2000 were as follows:
	
		
			  Red meat abbatoirs 
		
		
			 1980–81 1,135 
			 1985–86 1,000 
			 1990–91 779 
			 1995–96 488 
			 2000–01 359 
		
	
	Source:
	The Meat and Livestock Commission.
	In 2002–03 there were 320 red meat abattoirs in Great Britain.

Animal Sanctuaries

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what financial support her Department has given to animal sanctuaries in the United Kingdom since 1997.

Elliot Morley: The department does not provide financial support to animal sanctuaries. However, a considerable number of animal sanctuaries are registered charities. The Government have policies in place to increase the value of these charitable gifts by generous tax concessions, thereby supporting the work of all charities without compromising their independence.
	As part of the Government's policy to encourage more people to give to charity, the tax incentives for charitable giving were improved in Budget 2000, and further built upon in Budget 2002. There are now no limits on the amounts that individuals can give through the Gift Aid and Payroll Giving Schemes. In addition, tax relief is available on gifts to charity of listed shares and securities, land and buildings. Businesses can also get tax relief when they donate money, stock or equipment to charities in general.

Animal Welfare

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has for promoting alternative methods of testing other than using animals.

Elliot Morley: Responsibility for policy on the use of animals in scientific procedures rests with the Home Office.
	Defra is playing a full part in collective efforts led by the Home Office to promote the fullest application of the 3Rs—the replacement of procedures with others which do not use animals, the reduction of the number of animals used and the refinement of procedures to minimise pain and suffering—including the inter-Departmental Concordat on Data Sharing and other measures. Among other things, signatories to the concordat aim to minimise data requirements for animal tests as far as possible; encourage data sharing between clients, wherever appropriate, and to identify and overcome any procedural and legal barriers to data sharing.

Departmental Report

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost was of publishing her Department's annual report for each of the past five years; and if she will provide a breakdown of the costs incurred.

Alun Michael: The Defra annual report for 2002 was produced with the assistance of the Central Office of Information at a cost of £17,887, exclusive of VAT. These costs were in relation to proof-reading, design, layout and artwork and production of the web version of the report.
	The printing of the document was handled by The Stationary Office Ltd. They bore the full cost of printing and publishing.
	The costs for the 2003 Departmental Report have not yet been finalised. The production costs and any print costs for the previous three Annual Departmental Reports for MAFF could be supplied only at a disproportionate cost.

Beef Exports

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 4 June 2003, Official Report, column 409W, ref. 116584, how much beef was exported over the last three years; and what plans she has to increase this.

Elliot Morley: The following table shows UK exports of beef of both UK and non-UK origin for the last three years. It is not possible to distinguish between exports of beef of UK origin and beef of non-UK origin which has been imported into the UK and subsequently exported.
	
		Exports of beef and veal from United Kingdom 2000–02
		
			  Unit: Thousand tonnes, carcase weight equivalent 
		
		
			 2000 8.9 
			 2001 8.3 
			 2002(2) 10.4 
		
	
	(2) Provisional data
	Note:
	Figures include an estimate for unrecorded trade.
	Sources:
	HM Custom and Excise OTS
	DARD, Northern Ireland
	One of the commercial difficulties for beef exporters has been the constrictive nature of the conditions of the Date Based Export Scheme (DBES) which still prohibits the export of bone-in beef more than nine months old and has very stringent cattle eligibility criteria. Another problem has been the strength of sterling against the euro. However the possibility that the DBES can be modified or dismantled altogether is becoming a very real prospect as the number of BSE cases continues to decline and this, combined with a strengthening of the euro is likely to improve prospects for exports of British origin beef towards the end of next year.

Business Allowances

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what value of allowances has been made available to businesses since the introduction of the Enhanced Capital Allowance Scheme; and what the take up has been.

Elliot Morley: At the time of its introduction, it was estimated that the scheme would be worth £200 million in its first two years (2001–02 and 2002–03), depending on take-up. I regret that information on actual take-up is not yet available.

Avian Influenza

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations her Department has received about chicken influenza in Germany and Holland and importing poultry from these countries; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: Aside from three written Parliamentary Questions and three letters from MPs, Defra has received letters from the National Farmers Union and the British Egg Industry Council concerning the outbreak of Avian Influenza (AI) in the Netherlands and the affected part of Germany.
	European Community law (Council Directive 92/40/EEC) lays down procedures for controlling AI outbreaks in EU member states. The measures taken by the Dutch and German authorities and endorsed by the European Commission follow the rules laid down in this Directive.
	In line with Community Law, in March 2003 Defra issued a Declaration under Regulation 27 of the Animals and Animal (Import and Export) (England and Wales) Regulations 2000 introducing a ban on the import of live poultry, hatching eggs and racing/show pigeons from the Netherlands. Further Declarations have been issued prohibiting the import of poultry and hatching eggs from the affected part of Germany. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland introduced similar measures.
	The European Commission is keeping all member states informed of the AI situation in the Netherlands and in the affected part of Germany. The Government are satisfied that the German and Dutch Authorities are doing all that is needed to control the disease.
	Defra will continue to monitor the situation in both Germany and the Netherlands. Officials have reviewed and updated the AI contingency arrangements and the Department is in close touch with the UK poultry industry about measures we would take should AI appear here.
	Defra has kept the industry informed and up to date information on the AI situation may be obtained from the Defra website.

Countryside and Rights of Way Act

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effect of an overspend in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 mapping exercise on other Countryside Agency programmes.

Alun Michael: The Countryside Agency has reviewed its budget for 2003–04 across all its programmes in the light of current commitments and priorities, including mapping open country under the CRoW Act 2000, high demand for some of its programmes, and to make some efficiency savings shared across its programmes. The Agency is working with the Department and partners to ensure that planned outcomes for its key programmes are delivered and that best use is made of its budget of £98 million in 2003–04 compared with £92 million in 2002–03.

Egg Printing

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether her proposals for egg printing will allow printing to take place (a) on farm and (b) at processing factories; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: From 1 January 2004, EU rules will require all grade A hen eggs sold at retail level to be marked with an identifying code. This can be carried out either on the farm or at any approved packing centre. Eggs sold directly to the final consumer, to approved food manufacturers or to non-food establishments for processing will not have to be marked.

Egg Printing

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received about the 1 January 2004 deadline for the introduction of egg printing; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: I have received a number of representations from hon. Members and individuals about the new rules which will require all grade A hen eggs to be marked with an identifying code from 1 January 2004 but none specifically about the implementation date. Departmental officials have been working closely with industry representatives and individual egg packers to advise on the new requirements and how best to meet them.

English Wine

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she has taken to promote English wine.

Elliot Morley: The Government fosters an environment which encourages English wine producers to innovate and exploit an expanding but highly competitive market. Close liaison between industry representatives and Defra is the cornerstone of this relationship. Officials meet regularly with the industry to discuss producer concerns, and to monitor the UK Quality and Regional Wine Schemes which were introduced by the Government to promote the quality and reputation of English wine. Defra also offers English wine at large functions that it hosts from time to time, and regularly attends industry organised events.

Fallen Stock

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received about the use of on-farm incinerators to dispose of fallen stock; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The Department has had a number of discussions with interested parties regarding the impact of the new EU Animal By-Products Regulation and a proposal for a National Fallen Stock Collection and Disposal Scheme.
	We are currently working with interested organisations, including incinerator manufacturers and end-users (such as farmers) on detailed guidance on implementation of the Regulation's controls on incinerators.
	In the light of proposals for a national collection/disposal scheme, representations were made to confirm that on-farm incineration continues to be a permitted disposal route for fallen stock and that incinerator manufacturers were not placed at a commercial disadvantage.

Fallen Stock

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has for maintaining prices to be charged for removing fallen stock in the next five years; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: Charges for removal of fallen stock are a commercial matter between providers of fallen stock collection services and owners of the fallen stock.
	The Government have proposed a national fallen stock subscription scheme which would include an element of Government subsidy on a degressive basis over 3 years. However, support for the proposed scheme has been disappointing and discussions continue about options in the light of this response.

Fisheries

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what appeal process is available to communities affected by European Commission plans to remove their right to administer fish quota leasing schemes;
	(2)  what representations her Department will make to the European Commission regarding plans to remove the right of communities to administer fish quota leasing schemes;
	(3)  when her Department received notification that the European Commission planned to remove the right of communities to administer fish quota leasing schemes.

Elliot Morley: The European Commission has been investigating the schemes in the Orkney and Shetland islands since 1999. The Commission's doubts about the compatibility of the schemes with the Treaty were made clear when it opened a formal investigation into the schemes in November 2001. In its two letters of 28 November 2001, one on each of the schemes, the Commission observed that there existed:
	"serious doubts on the compatibility of this aid scheme with the Guidelines for the examination of State aid to fisheries and aquaculture and, therefore, with the EC Treaty." (Official Journal C 38 of 12.02.2002 p.6 and p.11)
	These letters were passed to the relevant local authority in each case soon after receipt and published in the Official Journal on 12 February 2002.
	The Commission Decisions of 3 June 2003 constitute the formal view of the Commission on the non-compatibility of these schemes with the Treaty. They were received at the United Kingdom Permanent Representation to the EU on 4 June and sent that day to my Department and to the Scottish Executive who sent them the next day to the local authorities concerned.
	The Decisions require the schemes to be either ended or brought into compliance with the Treaty within two months. If this corrective action is not taken, the provisions of Article 88(2) of the Treaty and Council Regulation (EC) No. 659/1999 allow the Commission to refer the United Kingdom's non-compliance to the European Court of Justice direct. In this case it would fall to the Government, not the administrators of the scheme, to defend or bring the case.
	There is no specific appeal mechanism against Commission State aid Decisions. However, a member state or any natural or legal person may apply to bring an action before the European Court of Justice for annulment of a Decision on certain grounds listed in Article 230 of the Treaty.
	In addition, the provisions of Article 88(2) of the Treaty permit a member state to apply in exceptional circumstances for approval of a State aid by the Council acting unanimously.
	The Commission Decisions are still being considered. We will continue to work closely with the Scottish Executive and the local authorities involved.

Fisheries

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the basis was for her policy on invoking the Hague Preference, in the current year, to the UK's benefit in fish stocks; what stocks qualified for the Hague Preference but were not invoked; and who the beneficiaries and losers were in each case as a result of her policy.

Elliot Morley: The policy was, as usual, to invoke Hague Preference on stocks where the UK's quota allocation would otherwise fall below the trigger level. This involves, in particular, invoking to counteract the effect of Irish invocations of Hague Preference on the UK's allocation. However, we do refrain from invoking in some cases where stocks are seriously depleted, as in these cases the operation of Hague Preference would transfer a very high proportion of other member states' allocations to the UK. This is the approach that we judge to be, overall, to the benefit of UK fishermen. For 2003 we did not invoke Hague Preference for any of the depleted North Sea stocks or for saithe in Area VI (where there was no Irish invocation).

Fisheries

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what EU competence exists over (a) fish, (b) shellfish, (c) other products of the sea, (d) related quotas and (e) regulation in the (i) six and (ii) 12 mile limits.

Elliot Morley: The European Union has exclusive competence over marine biological resources under the Common Fisheries Policy. Within this framework, the CFP Regulation EC 2371/2002 allows member states to take non-discriminatory conservation measures, conforming with the CFP, up to 12 miles from the shore line.

Invasive Weeds

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to assist those responsible for habitats where invasive non-native weeds are growing (a) to offset financial implications, (b) to install long-term plans to ensure these weeds are not just temporarily cleared but that all rhizomes are killed off and (c) to assist with safe disposal of cleared weeds to ensure that spread is not encouraged; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The Department has no plans to provide specific funding to meet the costs for landowners of dealing with invasive non-native plants, although statutory bodies such as the Environment Agency, English Nature and local authorities may on occasion be involved with control projects.
	Guidance on control and disposal of non-native plants is made available by the Environment Agency and English Nature. Fuller details are given in the response to my hon. Friend's separate question 117799. Waste containing Japanese knotweed is controlled under the Environment Protection Act 1990.

Invasive Weeds

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to assist those responsible for habitats where invasive non-native weeds are growing; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The Environment Agency and English Nature produce a range of guidance on controlling invasive non-native plants. The Environment Agency produces detailed guidance for landowners and managers on how to control a number of invasive species. In addition, English Nature has provided funding for 'The Invasive Alien Species' website (http://www.appliedvegetationdynamics.co.uk/IAAPwebsite/index.asp), which provides guidance for controlling problem species. Leaflets on invasive non-native pond plants produced jointly by English Nature, the Environment Agency and others also give guidance on control and on safe disposal to avoid further spread of the plants.
	In addition, the Department has set up a working group to undertake a fundamental Review of Non-Native Species Policy. Its report, published on 28 March 2003, is available in the House library. It includes a range of measures for dealing with invasive non-native species. We are developing, in liaison with the Devolved Administrations, the Government response to the report, and there will be public consultation later this year.

Invasive Weeds

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had regarding the control of invasive non-native weeds; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: In March this year, the Department completed a Review of Non-native Species Policy. The Review involved discussions with other Government Departments, the Devolved Administrations, the statutory conservation agencies and representatives from the trade sector, animal welfare and conservation organisations. This included discussion of control of invasive non-native plants.

Invasive Weeds

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received regarding the role of educating gardeners and others in controlling invasive non-native weeds; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The Department receives numerous representations on invasive non-native species. The Review of Non-native Species Policy reported that stakeholders, including gardeners, have a key role to play, for example, in avoiding further introductions of invasive non-native plants, and recommended a public education and awareness campaign. The Government are considering their response to the Review's report.

Invasive Weeds

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimates she has made of the costs of tackling invasive non-native weeds; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The report of the Review of Non-native Species Policy provided rough cost estimates for national control programmes for various invasive species, including invasive non-native plants, by way of illustration of the issue. For example, the report included estimates that a national Japanese knotweed eradication programme using current techniques would cost approximately £1.56 billion. At this level of cost, national control programmes are unlikely to be feasible. This shows the importance of effective measures to prevent introductions. However, the Department is also contributing research into novel methods of control of Japanese knotweed, which may help reduce costs.

Invasive Weeds

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research has been done into effective methods of killing invasive non-native weeds with (a) chemicals available in garden centres to tackle weeds, (b) weedkillers which have now been withdrawn from general circulation and (c) chemical preparations available only to professionals; and what plans she has to reassess the status of the withdrawn chemical preparations if they are proved to be better at tackling the problem.

Elliot Morley: The Department has undertaken a number of research projects looking into the impact of the use of pesticides on weeds in, or around, agricultural and horticultural crops. The Environment Agency's leaflet on control of invasive non-native plants gives guidance on use of chemical control. Only one research project has specifically focussed on invasive non-native plants and this is investigating alternatives to chemicals. The Department is contributing with Cornwall county council, the Environment Agency and others, to research into biological control of one of the problem species—Japanese knotweed. The study will undertake the necessary research to establish whether biological control is a feasible method for the long-term, sustainable management of Japanese knotweed in the UK.
	The Department is not undertaking any research into the effectiveness of withdrawn weedkillers to control invasive non-native plants. The UK's pesticide regulatory system allows for the granting of 'emergency' approvals whereby the marketing and use of plant protection products may be permitted, subject to an environmental risk assessment, for a limited period to control invasive non-native weeds if the threat they pose cannot be controlled by other means.

Meat Imports

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the estimated tonnage of illegal meat imported into the UK was in each of the last three years.

Elliot Morley: The Veterinary Laboratories Agency published a risk assessment report on 25 March 2003. This estimated the amount of illegal meat imported annually, on average, to be 7,500 tonnes, with 90 per cent. certainty that the amount of illegal meat imported will range from 2,800 tonnes to 17,500 tonnes per year.
	Copies of the report have been placed in the House Libraries.

Local Food Chains

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what help is available to those organisations which wish to develop local food chains.

Elliot Morley: We recognise the benefits that local food can bring and are keen to encourage the development of sustainable local food chains. Funding under the England Rural Development Programme has been used to support a range of local food chain related initiatives, including the establishment of farmers' markets and other direct sales outlets, the development of local branding initiatives and the formation of collaborative groups to market produce. We will continue to deploy our various funding schemes to encourage a flourishing local food sector. This activity will complement the measures at a regional level which the Regional Development Agencies will be implementing as part of their wider food and drink strategies.

Local Produce

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will introduce (a) rate relief and (b) other incentives to stores supplying local produce.

Elliot Morley: The information is as follows:
	(a) There are reasons of both principle and of practical effect which argue against this recommendation. Non-domestic rates are designed to raise revenue for the Exchequer. Ratepayers pay rates that reflect the rental value of the property regardless of the activity that takes place within that property. Rates are not there to encourage or discourage particular types of behaviour or investment. There are innumerable worthy causes that the rates system could support by granting relief and this would introduce complexity to a system that aims to be fair and equitable. There are, however, other options, which may be more effective. The Local Government Bill will introduce a new scheme of rate relief for small businesses. Many small retailers supplying local produce could benefit under this scheme.
	(b) There is growing consumer interest in local food. Many retailers have responded to this and have adopted local sourcing policies. We welcome this and want to encourage more local sourcing. We have recently financed a series of workshops organised by the Institute of Grocery Distribution, designed to bring together supermarkets and small local producers to explore how barriers to local sourcing may be overcome. In addition to this, we have just announced an extra £3 million over the next three years for Food from Britain to undertake a series of measures encouraging retailers to source more quality regional food and consumers to buy it.

Marine Resources

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether she was consulted by (a) the EU constitutional convention and (b) the UK representative on the convention about the provision in the draft constitution giving EU exclusive competence over the marine resources of the sea; and what representations she (i) has made and (ii) will be making on this issue.

Elliot Morley: The line taken on this matter by the United Kingdom reflects this Department's views.

Milk Quotas

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans have been put in place to ensure that unused UK milk quota is redistributed to UK farmers after 31 March 2004; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: As a result of the Thomsen European Court of Justice (ECJ) judgment, quota holders who are no longer in active milk production will, by 31 March 2004, have to sell their milk quota, resume production, or otherwise have their quota confiscated. We anticipate that the vast majority will either sell their quota or resume production. Where quota is confiscated, under the current UK legislation the quota holder has six years in which to resume production (and thus have the quota restored to him or her) before the quota is definitively taken into the national reserve of quota, and therefore potentially available for redistribution. Under the current CAP reform proposals, this period would be reduced to two years. We would propose to consult relevant trade organisations on the basis for redistributing quota confiscated as a result of the Thomsen ECJ case, if significant amounts of quota were confiscated, and thus potentially available for redistribution.

Shellhaven Scheme

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact of the Shellhaven Pact proposals in the Thames Estuary on (a) ground water levels in the Castle Point constituency and (b) the fishing industry in that area.

Elliot Morley: The Environment Agency has a duty to secure the proper use of water resources in England and Wales. The Agency advises me that the main water bearing aquifer in the area is chalk which, because it is hydraulically isolated from the surface by being deeply buried beneath London clay, will not be affected by the Shellhaven proposal.
	The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), an Executive Agency of Defra, provides expert scientific advice on marine and freshwater issues. It has contributed to the current public inquiry into the Shellhaven scheme given the international importance of the Thames Estuary as an area for sole spawning and juvenile sole. CEFAS has recommended that further survey work be carried out and assessment made of whether seasonal restrictions on dredging may be necessary to mitigate any adverse impact.

OSPAR Commission

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action will be taken to ensure that the Government meet the commitments of the OSPAR Commission proposals of July 1998 in advance of the meeting in Bremen in June 2003.

Michael Meacher: In 1998, OSPAR agreed strategies on hazardous substances, eutrophication, radioactive substances, biodiversity, and assessment and monitoring. A strategy for offshore oil and gas was agreed the following year. These strategies set long term goals—in some cases, looking a generation ahead (i.e. 2020).
	The strategy with regard to hazardous substances sets the objective of preventing pollution of the maritime area by continuously reducing discharges, emissions and losses of hazardous substances, with the ultimate aim of achieving concentrations in the marine environment near background values for naturally occurring substances and close to zero for man-made synthetic substances. The UK has worked with other OSPAR contracting parties, including the European Commission, to update and prioritise a list of substances that cause concern for the marine environment and to identify the most appropriate additional action to achieve the objective.
	The objective of the strategy to combat eutrophication is to seek to achieve and maintain a healthy marine environment where eutrophication does not occur by the year 2010. A key milestone to this is the assessment of the current eutrophication status of the various parts of the OSPAR maritime area. In this assessment the UK identified 16 marine areas of concern. These are being addressed by action under the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive and the Nitrates Directive.
	The strategy with regard to radioactive substances requires the OSPAR Commission, by the year 2020, to ensure that discharges of radioactive substances are reduced to levels where the additional concentrations in the marine environment above historic levels, resulting from such discharges, are close to zero. In July 2002, the Government published a strategy showing how the United Kingdom will contribute to the achievement of the 2020 target.
	OSPAR's biodiversity strategy aims to protect and conserve ecosystems and marine biological diversity. Annex V was brought into force on 30 August 2000. Since then, the UK has prepared for the forthcoming meeting in Bremen by helping to develop a criteria for identifying threatened and declining species, developing guidelines on the identification and management of marine protected areas, developing guidance on the construction and operation of offshore wind farms, developing an agreement on sand and gravel extraction, and the development of proposed ecological quality objectives which will be piloted in the North sea.
	The strategy for oil and gas addresses the effects of offshore activity through the setting of environmental goals and the establishment of management mechanisms to achieve them. Good progress has been made, in particular with controls on chemicals being agreed and an ambitious goal being set to reduce discharges of produced water. A goal of all operators having internationally recognised environmental management systems in place by the end of 2005 has also been developed and is expected to be adopted at the meeting later this month.
	In respect of assessment and monitoring, the forthcoming meeting will invite Ministers to endorse a new OSPAR strategy known as the Joint Assessment and Monitoring Programme (JAMP). This provides the framework for OSPAR's work in this area, both in support of other OSPAR strategies and to facilitate the production in 2010 of a Quality Status Report for the OSPAR maritime area.
	Overall the UK has been implementing the plans and measures set out above in accordance with these strategies, and the milestones contained within them, and has met its commitments to date.

Partnership Agreements

Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether she plans to conclude a partnership agreement with the trade unions representing the staff in her Department.

Alun Michael: Work on a partnership agreement is well in hand. Senior managers and the Department's Trade Union Side have met on several occasions to discuss partnership working in the Department and the Agencies. A further meeting is scheduled to discuss a draft policy document and subject to it being mutually acceptable we anticipate a partnership agreement will be concluded.

Rural Affairs

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on funding arrangements for the implementing of (a) the rights of way legislation and (b) the vital villages policy.

Alun Michael: The information is as follows:
	(a) Under the new burdens procedure, local authorities are being fully funded for their new duties in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. In the explanatory notes presented to Parliament with the Countryside and Rights of Way Bill in March 2000, we estimated those costs to be between £12 million and £19 million. The total funding is within this band and is paid through the unhypothecated Environment and Cultural Services Block. We are also funding various activities relating to the Act via the Countryside Agency.
	(b) The Vital Villages Initiative was launched in 2001 as a three year demand led programme. It is administered by the Countryside Agency on behalf of Defra. The scheme delivered nearly £24.5 million to rural communities in its first two years of operation. A further £17 million has been budgeted for 2003–04, of which some £12 million has already been allocated. Due to the overwhelming success of the scheme there are currently more applications than available funding. Applications are being prioritised to ensure projects that benefit those communities in greatest need receive funding.

Rural Affairs

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she last met the Chairman of the Countryside Agency to discuss rural proofing.

Alun Michael: I meet Sir Ewen Cameron frequently and regularly to discuss a wide range of issues in connection with his role as Rural Advocate and his role as Chairman of the Countryside Agency. Rural proofing is a regular topic of conversation. The Secretary of State and Ministers from Defra and other Departments also meet Sir Ewen from time to time.

Rural Affairs

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding she expects the Countryside Agency to give the Rural Transport Partnership in Gloucestershire in (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05; and if she will make a statement.

Alun Michael: On behalf of Defra, the Countryside Agency plans to give Gloucestershire Rural Transport Partnership a £90,000 grant over the period 2003–04 to 2004–05. The 2004–05 funds will be subject to approval after 2003–04. For each of the years 2003–04 and 2004–05 Gloucestershire RTP will receive the core costs for running the partnership (including a rural transport officer post) of £35,000, plus £10,000 delegated fund for small scale transport projects in their area.

State Veterinary Service

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many veterinary surgeons have been employed by the State Veterinary Service in each year since 1997.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 12 June 2003
	The number of permanent veterinary surgeons (full time equivalent) employed by the State Veterinary Service at 1 January each year since 1997, is given in the table. The figures for 2002 and 2003 do not include Headquarters veterinary surgeons responsible for policy development in the Animal Health and Welfare Directorate General. In addition as at 1 January 2003 there were 58 casual and fixed term appointee veterinary staff.
	
		
			 Year Number of vets 
		
		
			 1997 289.5 
			 1998 302.0 
			 1999 283.0 
			 2000 284.0 
			 2001 286.0 
			 2002 252.3 
			 2003 257.4

DEFENCE

Animal Welfare

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the Government's policy is on the use of animal fur in the manufacture of army uniforms.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence is not aware of any Government policy on the use of animal fur in the manufacture of Army (or other military) uniforms. The Department does, however, purchase various clothing items which incorporate animal fur as part of their specification to an agreed quality standard. However, MOD is open to change and we are actively seeking suitable synthetic alternatives where feasible.

Warships

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 13 May 2003 to the hon. Member for New Forest, East (Dr. Lewis), Official Report, column 159W, on warships, which frigates will be disposed of earlier than previously planned.

Adam Ingram: As I stated in my answer of 13 May 2003, Official Report, column 159W to the hon. Member for New Forest, East (Dr. Lewis), there are currently no plans to dispose of any Royal Navy Type 23 Frigates earlier than scheduled. I also refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 12 May 2003, Official Report, column 47W to the hon. Member for New Forest, East and to the answer I gave him on 3 June 2003, Official Report, column 44W.

Nuclear Weapons

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps the Government plan to take as a contribution to the elimination of the UK nuclear arsenal, as reaffirmed at the 2000 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference.

Geoff Hoon: The United Kingdom has an excellent record in fulfilling its Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) obligations on nuclear disarmament. Consistent with the policy set out in the Strategic Defence Review in 1998, the UK has already gone further than other nuclear weapon states in implementing the measures agreed in the Final Document of the 2000 NPT Review Conference.
	More specifically, the UK has:
	withdrawn and dismantled the RAF's freefall nuclear bomb so that Trident is now our only nuclear weapons system;
	reduced our operationally available stockpile to fewer than 200 warheads, which is a reduction of more than 70 per cent. in the potential explosive power of our nuclear forces since the end of the Cold War;
	dismantled the UK's last Chevaline warhead, in April 2002;
	reduced the readiness of our nuclear forces. Only a single Trident submarine is now on deterrent patrol, carrying 48 warheads. The submarine on patrol is normally on several days 'notice to fire' and its missiles are de-targeted;
	placed fissile material no longer required for defence purposes under international safeguards. All enrichment and reprocessing facilities in the UK are now liable to international inspection; and
	been more transparent about our nuclear and fissile material stockpiles and begun a national historical accounting study for fissile material produced.
	The UK continues to play a full part in the NPT Review Process, including most recently in the Second Session of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom), which was held in Geneva in April/May this year, where we gave a full account of our progress to date.

Nuclear Weapons

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions the Government have had on the possibility of a follow-on to the Trident nuclear weapon (a) delivery system and (b) warhead.

Geoff Hoon: The Government keep under appropriate review all options, including those relating to nuclear deterrence, consistent with their international legal obligations, for maintaining and enhancing national and international security. There are no current plans for any replacement of Trident and no decisions are yet needed. We stated in the New Chapter to the Strategic Defence Review, published last year (Cm 5566), that the United Kingdom's nuclear weapons have a continuing use as a means of deterring major strategic military threats, and they have a continuing role in guaranteeing the ultimate security of the UK. In line with the 1998 Strategic Defence Review, it is our policy to maintain a minimum capability to design and produce a successor to Trident should this prove necessary.

Nuclear Weapons

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many new scientific posts are being created at AWE; and what their role is in weapons research.

Lewis Moonie: Posts to be created over the next few years will be primarily to enable recruitment of graduates who will, in time, replace existing scientists, a number of whom are due to retire. The actual numbers of graduates to be recruited will depend on the success of AWE's recruitment campaign and the suitability of candidates.
	The role of AWE is to support United Kingdom nuclear weapons policy as set out in the 1998 Strategic Defence Review.

Nuclear Weapons

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether scientific endeavours at AWE include research on new designs for nuclear warheads.

Lewis Moonie: There are no current plans for any replacement for Trident and no decisions are yet needed. In line with the 1998 Strategic Defence Review, it is our policy to maintain the capability to design and produce a successor weapon should this prove necessary.

Paratrooper Andrew Kelly

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what investigation has been conducted into the circumstances of the death of Paratrooper Andrew Kelly in army barracks in Basra on 8 May.

Lewis Moonie: Paratrooper Andrew Kelly died on 6 May 2003 in Iraq. This incident is subject to an on-going investigation by the Royal Military Police and a Board of Inquiry.

Prague Capabilities Commitment

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what commitments the Government have made regarding improvements in military capabilities in providing deployable forces under the Prague Capabilities Commitment.

Geoff Hoon: The United Kingdom has consistently made a strong contribution towards the improvement of NATO's capabilities. Our commitments to the Prague Capabilities Commitment are aimed at improving the deployability, sustainability and effectiveness of our armed forces. In particular, we have made commitments in NBC protection equipment, deployable Combat Service Support, secure Communication and Information systems and strategic air and sealift.
	In addition to these national commitments, we are participating in multinational efforts to address shortfalls in NATO capability, and in this regard are leading a group looking at chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence.

Royal Anglian Regiment

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list by each Government region the regiments historically attached to cities and counties in that region.

Lewis Moonie: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the types of weapons of mass destruction in the possession of Her Majesty's Government.

Geoff Hoon: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 May 2002, Official Report, column 367W to my hon. Friend the Member for Blaenau Gwent (Llew Smith).

SCOTLAND

"Friends of Scotland"

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will make a statement on the outcomes achieved by her "Friends of Scotland" initiative.

Helen Liddell: "Friends of Scotland" aims to highlight contemporary Scotland's strengths internationally and to harness the considerable goodwill towards Scotland that exists in many countries. It is now successfully established as an active, worldwide network of influential individuals.
	Many of the signed up Friends are setting up their own local networks of contacts who are working to enhance the perception of Scotland overseas.
	The website has proved highly successful in highlighting Scottish achievements in the fields of culture, education and business.

Correspondence

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many staff have been employed in the Ministerial Correspondence Unit of the Department in each of the last two years.

Helen Liddell: In each of the last two years my Department has employed two full-time equivalent staff in the Ministerial Correspondence Unit, although staff also undertake other administrative duties.

Electoral Boundaries

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when she last met representatives of Scottish local authorities to discuss boundaries for the next general election in Scotland.

Helen Liddell: It would not be appropriate for me to meet representatives of Scottish local authorities to discuss boundaries for the next general election in Scotland. Such matters fall within the responsibilities of the wholly independent Boundary Commission for Scotland. I have a specific statutory role in relation to the laying of Parliamentary Orders implementing final recommendations from the Commission.

Electoral Boundaries

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what her assessment is of the latest date on which new boundary proposals for Scotland would have to be laid before the House if electoral arrangements are to be in place for the next general election.

Helen Liddell: I am unable to make such an assessment as this would depend on when the next general election is held. The Boundary Commission must report to me by December 2006.

Parliamentary Questions

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland pursuant to her written answer of 15 May 2003, Official Report, column 367W, what the reason was for the delay in responding substantively to the written question set down for answer on 20 March.

Helen Liddell: The timetable for publishing departmental reports is set by the Treasury. Information about the publication date for the Scotland Office report was not available at the time of the original question.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

School Transport

Huw Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment has been made of evacuation procedures on buses taking pupils to and from school.

Charles Clarke: None. School transport safety over and above the legal minimum is a matter for individual LEAs, consequently no national assessment has been made. All buses and coaches must have clearly signed Emergency Exits. While children are, occasionally, required to evacuate home to school transport quickly, I am not aware of any problems that have arisen during that process. Nevertheless, schools and local education authorities should consider the benefits of carrying out regular evacuation drills in collaboration with bus operators, so that pupils know what to do in an emergency.

Numeracy/Literacy

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of British adults had the lowest (a) numeracy and (b) literacy levels as defined by the OECD in each year since 1997.

Ivan Lewis: The most recent information available on adult numeracy and literacy levels is from the International Adult Literacy Study (IALS), which was carried out in 1996.
	The study indicated that:
	(a) 23 per cent. of adults aged 16–65 in Great Britain had poor numeracy skills
	(b) 22 per cent. of adults aged 16–65 in Great Britain had poor literacy skills
	The IALS data from 1996 is published annually in the OECD publication "Education at a Glance". There are no data available for 1997 or for subsequent years.
	The Department has commissioned a new representative sample survey of working age adults in England to provide an up-to-date assessment of the scale of literacy and numeracy need. These estimates will be mapped to the new national basic skills standards and will be published in autumn 2003.

Numeracy/Literacy

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will place in the Library a copy of the Go-Karts video of the Early Literacy Support programme.

Maria Eagle: Yes. A copy will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

Civil Servants

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many civil servants are predicted to be employed in the Department in (a) 2003–04, (b) 2004–05 and (c) 2005–06.

Charles Clarke: The information requested (which is contained in Annex F of the Departmental Report 2003) is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  2003–04 plans 2004–05 plans 2005–06 plans 
		
		
			 Civil Service full-time equivalents 4,592 4,577 4,527 
			 Casuals 113 113 113 
			 Total 4,705 4,690 4,640

Civil Servants

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many civil servants' advisers have been employed by his Department in each of the years from 1997–98 to 2002–03; and what their median and weighted mean salary was.

Charles Clarke: My Department has not employed any civil servants' advisers in any of the years from 1997–98 to 2002–03.

Document Costs

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 22 May 2003, Official Report, column 1002W, on document costs, what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of publications which were not handled through the Department's publicity division in each of the last five years for which information is available.

Stephen Twigg: holding answer 10 June 2003
	The Department produces a large number of publications each year, ranging from small leaflets to larger booklets. The large majority of these are related to information or guidance on specific areas of policy, targeted at practitioners or stakeholders such as schools, LEAs, school governors, etc.
	The Department's publicity division uses a bespoke financial management system, which records expenditure through their system of framework contracts with a range of suppliers of paid publicity services which is categorised according to media, including design and print.
	Expenditure by individual policy teams which is not processed through the publicity division system is not categorised in the same way, (although the same framework contracts are used), and therefore the information requested on document costs produced through them is not available.
	There has been no change to the way the Department produces or procures its publications in the past five years. We have a duty to consult on and inform our customers, stakeholders and interest groups of policy changes and developments. The volume, and by implication the level of expenditure, is largely dependent on the level of activity on policy initiatives which the Department needs to communicate to these groups.
	The Department operates under strict targets to control and reduce the number of paper-based communication to schools and LEAs to help reduce the bureaucratic burden. In the current academic year (September 2002 to July 2003), the volume of printed material sent directly to schools is on course to be reduced by 50 per cent. against the corresponding figure sent to schools in the last academic year.

Euro

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he received the Treasury documents relating to the five economic tests and the 18 background studies; what discussions he has held with ministerial colleagues on the tests since receipt of the documents; when he expects to complete his analysis of the documents; and what representations (a) he and (b) departmental officials will make to other Departments before a decision is reached on the economic tests.

Charles Clarke: The Treasury's 18 supporting studies on EMU were sent to Cabinet Ministers on 16 May. My right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Chancellor held meetings with Cabinet Members. There was an initial discussion at Cabinet on 22 May followed by a special Cabinet meeting on 5 June. The Chancellor made a statement to the House of Commons on 9 June.

Hotel Accommodation

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the amount spent by (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies on hotel accommodation (i) in the UK and (ii) abroad for (A) Ministers, (B) staff and (C) others; and if he will list the average cost per hotel room, in each year since 1997.

Charles Clarke: The Government published an annual report on ministerial travel overseas. The total cost of ministerial travel provided in the annual report includes the cost of accommodation. The information sought in respect of accommodation within the UK is not held centrally. All travel is conducted in line with the requirements of the Ministerial Code.
	The detailed information requested for (B) staff and (C) others, is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. All travel is conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Civil Service Management Code.

KPMG

Peter Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many contracts his Department has awarded to KPMG since 1997.

Stephen Twigg: My Department does not centrally hold a record of Individual contracts. However, our financial records show the following payments made by the Department to KPMG by fiscal year since April 1997.
	
		
			  Value (£) 
		
		
			 1997–98 0.00 
			 1998–99 0.00 
			 1999–2000 3,127,973.00 
			 2000–01 3,025,001.00 
			 2001–02 396,353.00 
			 2002–03 1,014,559.00

Learning and Skills Sector

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 3 June 2003, ref. 115082, if he will list the members of the independent gatekeeper group to reduce bureaucracy in the learning and skills sector.

Charles Clarke: I have appointed Sir Andrew Foster as Chairman of the Bureaucracy Review Group. Sir Andrew's appointment was formally announced by my hon. Friend the Minister (Margaret Hodge) at the Learning and Skills Development Agency Summer Conference on 10 June. The remaining members of the group will be appointed by the end of July and I will ask officials to write to the hon. Gentleman with their names as soon as this is possible.

Partnership Agreements

Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether he plans to conclude a partnership agreement with the trade unions representing the staff in his Department.

Charles Clarke: There are plans to conclude a partnership agreement with the trade unions representing staff in my Department. Although a formal agreement has not yet been signed, my officials are in active discussion with the trade unions to finalise a meaningful agreement that supports our business. In practice, my Department and its trade unions already work together to achieve shared aims and objectives in an equal, positive and constructive relationship. The Cabinet Office/Council of Civil Service Unions 'Partnership Working in the Civil Service' agreement is available to all staff and managers through my Department's employee relations website.
	My Department does not have any Executive Agencies.

PR/Media Consultants

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) public relations and (b) media consultants to his Department in each of the last five years for which information is available.

Stephen Twigg: holding answer 10 June 2003
	The cost of public relations consultants to the Department for the past five years is as follows:
	1998–99—£549,000
	1999–2000—£88,000
	2000–01—£794,000
	2001–02—£1,574,000
	2002–03—£1,944,457.
	The increase over the past two years reflects selective use of PR agencies for a number of campaigns, such as Adult Basic Skills, Aimhigher, Connexions and Millennium Volunteers where key target audiences are difficult to reach through traditional advertising routes. Activity to develop national and local media coverage and targeted communications through external organisations already in contact with these audiences has proved effective.
	The Department has not incurred expenditure on media consultants in this period.

School Federations

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on plans to fund and integrate school federations as single collegiate institutions through a legal change in governance arrangements, as outlined in the recent Excellence and Enjoyment document.

Stephen Twigg: Collaboration may be more or less formal, ranging from informal information exchange on an ad hoc basis to the legal establishment of formal governance arrangements. There is a wide range of collaborative projects which offer opportunities to primary schools.
	From 2002, all maintained primary schools will be able to federate/collaborate under the terms of the 2002 Education Act. Some limited pump-priming funding will be available as outlined on the federation website (www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/federations).

School Funding

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what modelling was done by his Department to test the new funding system for local authorities and schools, with particular reference to its impact at individual school level.

David Miliband: holding answer 9 June 2003
	The Government's proposals for a new LEA funding system were first set out in the Local Authority Finance Green Paper of September 2000, and subsequently reconfirmed in last autumn's Schools White Paper and the Local Government White Paper. DfES and ODPM had extensive consultation with external partners throughout all of 2001 and most of 2002, with a three month consultation on a range of options carried out in July 2002. Building on the responses to the consultation, ODPM and DfES explored a large number of options for the distribution of Formula Grant and Education Formula Spending Shares between authorities before determining this year's settlement. In particular, we decided on a minimum like-for-like grant increase of 3.5 per cent. and a minimum like-for-like Education FSS increase of 3.2 per cent. per pupil to ensure that each education authority received a reasonable increase.
	Our analysis of options included a detailed assessment of the implications for each LEA and therefore it's schools necessary passporting requirements. However, decisions on council tax and disbursement of funding between schools is a matter for individual local authorities, subject to the general constraints contained in the Fair Funding regulations.

School Funding

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools there are for which education funding for the current academic year fails to cover standstill budgetary pressures, broken down by county.

David Miliband: Schools will face a range of budgetary pressures depending on a number of factors, namely the specific cost pressures which the school faces and the level of funding which it has received from its local authority.
	Cost pressures vary school by school depending in particular on the staffing profile of the school and changing pupil numbers. Funding depends on decisions by central Government by LEAs.
	The increase in funding for each school will depend on a number of factors covering both central and local government responsibility. These are the increase in funding given to the school's authority by central Government; the amount which the local authority decides to increase its Schools Budget by; the increase which the local authority decides to give to the Individual Schools Budget, as opposed to the items within the Schools Budget which are held centrally; and the operation of the local authority's formula which gives different increases to different schools.

School Meals

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to encourage schools to develop whole school food policies; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Twigg: holding answer 9 June 2003
	Our Food in Schools programme (run jointly with the Department of Health) supports all aspects of food education within the National Curriculum as well as a range of projects aimed at developing healthy eating habits. We are producing guidance to encourage schools to adopt a consistent approach to teaching about diet, nutrition, cooking, food hygiene and safety, and to reflect this approach in the provision of food that pupils eat at school.

School Meals

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to encourage LEAs to ensure that meals provided on school premises are low in sugar, fat and salt; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Twigg: In April 2001, this Department introduced regulations that set nutritional standards for school lunches together with complementary guidance to assist caterers in preparing school meals. The guidance makes various recommendations for reducing the amount of fat, sugar and salt in school lunches and recommends that foods containing fat and sugar should make up no more than 10 per cent. of the total foods on offer over the course of one week. It is for local education authorities or, where the budget for school meals is delegated to them, a school's governing body, to decide the ingredients and dishes that will be on offer at lunchtime.

Skills Councils

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much additional private sector employer investment he estimates will be put into sector skills councils in addition to his Department's own resources; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) will receive a substantial contribution of up to £3 million over three years from Government towards their core costs. The strength and vitality of SSCs will be measured in part by the extent to which they are able to generate financial support from all sector stakeholders, including employers. We expect SSCs to lever in substantial private sector employer investment but have not set a target on how much that investment should be. However, Government would expect private sector employer investment to rise over time, particularly as SSCs demonstrate their benefits to employers.

Training Costs

Dave Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will publish the level of contributions that employers have made towards publicly funded skills and training costs in each region for the last three years.

Ivan Lewis: The total cost of training to employers in England was estimated at approximately £23 billion for 2000. This breaks down by region as follows:
	
		
			 Region £ billion 
		
		
			 North East 1.8 
			 North West 3.9 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 1.9 
			 East Midlands 1.1 
			 West Midlands 2.1 
			 Eastern 2.0 
			 London 5.3 
			 South East 3.6 
			 South West 1.7 
		
	
	The estimates are from the Learning and Training at Work 2000 survey of employers and covers all training—both that which is publicly funded and otherwise. The figures include indirect costs—the largest component is the wage costs of the trainees while in training. Comparable figures for 2001 and 2002, and a breakdown into training funded publicly or otherwise are not available.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Accountancy Services

John Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General what the total cost to her Department was for accountancy services in 2002.

Harriet Harman: holding answer 12 March 2003
	The total cost to the Crown Prosecution Service for accountancy services provided in 2002–03 by external firms of accountants was £57,000.
	The total cost to the Serious Fraud Office for accountancy services provided in 2002–03 by external firms of accountants was £2,542,511. The Serious Fraud Office has only incurred costs on the use of specific accountancy expertise to support case investigations during the financial year 2002–03. There has been no administrative accountancy service other than external and internal audits by the National Audit Office and the Inland Revenue respectively.
	The Treasury Solicitor's Department, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers have not expended any costs on external firms of accountants in the period 2002–03.

Accountancy Services

John Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General what the total cost to her Department was for accountancy services in 2002–03.

Harriet Harman: holding answer 28 April 2003
	The total cost to the Crown Prosecution Service for accountancy services provided in 2002–03 by external firms of accountants was £57,000.
	The total cost to the Serious Fraud Office for accountancy services provided in 2002–03 by external firms of accountants was £2,542,511. The Serious Fraud Office has only incurred costs on the use of specific accountancy expertise to support case investigations during the financial year 2002–03. There has been no administrative accountancy service other than external and internal audits by the National Audit Office and the Inland Revenue respectively.
	The Treasury Solicitor's Department, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers have not expended any costs on external firms of accountants in the period 2002–03

Agency Workers

John Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General how many agency workers have been employed by the Department in each of the last two years; and at what cost to public funds.

Harriet Harman: holding answer 10 April 2003
	Crown Prosecution Service
	The Crown Prosecution Service does not keep centralised records of the number of agency workers employed. It would incur disproportionate cost to collect this information. The cost to public funds of agency workers employed by the Crown Prosecution Service was £2.48 million in financial year 2001–02 and £2.42 million in 2002–03.
	Serious Fraud Office
	The Serious Fraud Office employed 116 agency workers in 2001–02, at a cost of £473,421. 120 agency workers were employed in 2002–03 at a cost of £394,754.
	These figures include general administrative staff as well as accountants and lawyers.
	HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate
	HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate expenditure for agency staff in financial year 2001–02 and 2002–03 was £51,125.25 and £17,114.97 respectively. The number of agency staff employed in 2001–02 and 2002–03 was 8 and 12, respectively.
	Neither the Treasury Solicitor's Department or the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers hold this information centrally.

Departmental Underspend

John Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General what plans she has to reduce the Department's underspend in 2003–04 from that of 2002–03.

Harriet Harman: holding answer 14 May 2003
	The Crown Prosecution Service
	The Crown Prosecution Service is currently finalising its resource accounts for 2002–03. The final outturn position will be known with certainty when the accounts have been completed and certified by the National Audit Office. Against the main control total, the departmental expenditure limit, the Crown Prosecution Service anticipates an underspend of £2.5 million, which is half of one per cent. of the gross provision of £484 million and provides evidence of the effective financial budgetary, planning and control systems in place in the Department. Spending plans for CPS Areas and CPS HQ are regularly reviewed during the year and remedial action taken where appropriate to ensure spending targets are met. Such reviews will continue in 2003–04. On expenditure that is outside the departmental expenditure limit, there will be an underspend of around £13 million in respect of the costs of depreciation of IT assets, which were transferred to the Department's public finance initiative partner, LogicaCMG plc, on 1 April 2002. Future estimates of depreciation costs reflect the transfer and such an underspend cannot recur in the future.
	Serious Fraud Office
	The Serious Fraud Office plans to fully utilise its resources available in 2003–04. The Serious Fraud Office does not plan to underspend in any financial year but it is subject to short-term volatility in its resource consumption plans. The ability to make use of the End Year Flexibility scheme and carry resources forward to future years ensures that consumption can be managed efficiently and effectively to achieve value for money.
	HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate
	HM Crown Prosecution Service's underspend for 2002–03 is estimated to be £87k, attributable to managed vacancies while revising inspection methodology. Recruitment is currently under way. The underspend will be reduced in the Financial Year 2003–04 by recruiting additional staff, although it is still possible that there may be an underspend on the salaries budget because of the time taken to recruit.
	Treasury Solicitor's Department
	The Treasury Solicitor's Department had two main areas of underspend in 2002–03, namely staff costs and capital expenditure. In the later months of 2002–03, the Department was successful in recruiting staff as a result of a programme of continuous recruitment coupled with the overall position in the market for lawyers. This means that the Department is well placed to achieve the budgeted complement for 2003–04. The Department's major capital projects are on course for completion in accordance with their individual project targets and significant increases in expenditure over the previous year's levels will be achieved in 2003–04 as several major projects come on stream.
	Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers
	The total budget for the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers for the financial year 2002–03 was £3.1 million. Although figures have not yet been finalised, it is not expected that there will be any significant underspend for that period.

EU Committees

John Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General how many officials in the Department serve on EU committees or working parties.

Harriet Harman: holding answer 2 June 2003
	None of the Departments for which the Attorney-General holds Ministerial responsibility has staff that serve on EU committees or working parties.
	The Treasury Solicitor's Department does not have responsibility for any EU committees or working groups. However, from time to time the Department's lawyers are requested to, and do, assist officials from the lead Departments on working groups.

Partnership Agreements

Angela Eagle: To ask the Solicitor-General whether she plans to conclude a partnership agreement with the trade unions representing the staff in her Department.

Harriet Harman: holding answer on 10 June 2003
	Crown Prosecution Service
	Crown Prosecution Service staff are represented by two trade unions: the Association of First Division civil servants (FDA) and the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS). The Crown Prosecution Service signed a partnership agreement with the FDA on 26 March 1999. However, there is no such agreement with the PCS.
	Serious Fraud Office
	The Serious Fraud Office is a small Department. It currently has no plans to conclude a formal partnership agreement with staff trade unions although it continues to work with those trade unions in the spirit set out in the Cabinet Office/CCSU partnership agreement, combining both the formal and informal approach appropriate to the size of organisation.
	HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate
	There is no partnership agreement as such. However, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate attaches great importance to ensuring effective consultation and involvement of staff and encourages staff to join an appropriate trade union and to play an active part within it, although it is of course, a personal decision whether or not to join a trade union.
	Following the move to independent status at the end of 2000 HM Crown Prosecution Service Directorate, following discussion with the relevant trade union formed a Whitley Council. The inaugural meeting was held on 1 May 2001 with the constitution being formally signed by the Management and Departmental Trade Union Side on 18 June 2001. Meetings are productive for both sides and are held quarterly.
	Treasury Solicitor's Department
	The Treasury Solicitor's Department is presently holding discussions with trade unions with a view to introducing a partnership agreement in the Department. Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers
	The Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers is a Department of only some 35 staff, virtually all of whom are on secondment from other Government Departments. Individual members of staff benefit from whatever arrangements with the trade unions that have been entered into by their parent Department.

CABINET OFFICE

Food Standards Agency

David Lidington: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will make a statement on the editorial control exercised by the Cabinet Office over advice published by the Food Standards Agency.

Douglas Alexander: The Cabinet Office exercises no control over advice published by the Food Standards Agency.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Digital Broadcasting

Tim Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proposals she has for a change in the cost of television licences for households in areas unable to receive (a) digital terrestrial television and (b) digital audio broadcasting.

Kim Howells: The Government have no such proposals. The television licence fee is a payment for permission to instal or use television to receive any television programme service and does not vary according to the range of services that can be received. In any case, the great majority of households which are unable to receive digital terrestrial broadcasts can receive the same channels, including all the BBC's licence fee funded digital services, via digital satellite.

Historic Town Walls

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what plans she has to strengthen the role of English Heritage in protecting historic town walls; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what action she proposes to take under the terms of the Government's policy statement, "The Historic Environment: A Force for Our Future" of December 2001 in respect of historic town walls; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The protection of historic town walls falls within the review of heritage protection legislation announced in "The Historic Environment: A Force for our Future", and currently being carried out by the Department in partnership with English Heritage. One major aim of the review is to ensure that the future framework for managing the historic environment enables a more comprehensive view to be taken of historic assets such as historic town walls than is possible under current legislation.

Landmarks

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the criteria which must be met in order to conserve landmarks.

Kim Howells: 'Landmarks' as a term could cover many features of the built and natural environment. There are two statutory designations that fall within the remit of this Department: listing and scheduling.
	The Secretary of State's criteria for listing buildings are: architectural interest; historical interest; close historical associations with nationally important people or events and group value.
	The Secretary of State's criteria for scheduling ancient monuments are: period; rarity; documentation; group value; survival/condition; fragility/vulnerability; diversity and potential.

Landmarks

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to expand the criteria for conserving landmarks.

Kim Howells: The protection of landmarks, whether scheduled monuments or listed buildings, falls within the review of heritage protection legislation announced in 'The Historic Environment: A Force for our Future' and currently being carried out by the Department in partnership with English Heritage. The review aims to put in place a framework for managing the historic environment which enables a more comprehensive view to be taken of historic assets than is possible under current legislation.

Olympic Games

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to her statement of 15 May 2003, Official Report, columns 477–78, on the Olympic Games 2012, how much funding from existing Lottery money will be re-directed to a London Olympic Games from the (a) Community Fund, (b) New Opportunities Fund, (c) Arts Council, (d) Heritage Lottery Fund, (e) sports councils, (f) film councils and (g) other distribution organisations.

Tessa Jowell: The statement of 15 May refers to an overall contribution of up to £1.5 billion from the National Lottery to the cost of staging the 2012 Olympic Games.
	The National Lottery Commission's prudent assessment is that new Olympic Lottery games could generate £750 million in the period 2005–2012, however it does not discount the possibility of the initiatives out-performing this estimate. It is currently expected that half of this total will be raised through Olympic Lottery games where the income will be hypothecated for hosting the Olympics. A further £340 million will be derived sought from planned spending/expenditure by the established sports distributors.
	Were it required, any outstanding balance would/will be met by changing the percentage shares of Lottery income passing to the existing Good Causes after 2009. A review of those shares would have taken place whether or not London was bidding to host the Olympics.
	Preliminary estimates provided by Camelot, and assessed by the National Lottery Commission, suggest that any negative impact on income on the existing good causes from Olympic Lottery games would be small— 4 per cent. for the remainder of the Camelot licence period, until 2009. Until 2009 the impact of Olympic Lottery games on the existing Good Causes is unlikely to be more than 4 per cent.
	It is too early to say what the impact on individual distributing bodies will be. As noted in the original statement, the whole Olympic funding package, including the Lottery element, will be reviewed in 2005 when much clearer estimates of the costs involved in the Olympic project will be available.

Scottish Land Fund

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the average size of grant awarded by the Scottish Land Fund has been in each year since its creation (a) including and (b) excluding awards in respect of feasibility studies.

Richard Caborn: The information is as follows:
	1. (a) During its first full reporting year (April 2001 to March 2002), the Scottish Land Fund made 46 grants worth a total of £5,614,959, with an average grant size of £122,064.
	(b) When technical assistance grants are excluded from the calculation, this average increases to £214,345.
	2. (a) During its second full reporting year (April 2002 to March 2003), the Scottish Land Fund made 55 grants with a total value of £3,121,375, with an average grant size of £56,752.
	(b) When technical assistance grants are excluded from the calculation, this average increases to £83,151.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Benefit Payments

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 3 June 2003, Official Report, column 50W, on benefit order books, what the budget is for the exceptions service being developed by his Department as an alternative to the direct payment of benefits; and if he will make a statement on the resources being allocated to the exceptions service in each of the next three financial years.

Malcolm Wicks: The cost of the exceptions service will depend on (a) the details of the service which we are currently developing and (b) the number of customers paid by this method.

Benefit Payments

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if the term "bank account" in his Department's Spending Review 2002 PSA target to pay 89 per cent. of benefit customers by direct transfer to their bank account by 2005 includes both bank accounts and Post Office card accounts.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department has a published Public Service Agreement that by 2005, 85 per cent. of customers will have their benefits paid by Direct Payment. Direct Payment includes both bank and building society current and basic accounts and the Post Office card account.

Benefit Payments

Candy Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of women teaching assistants employed as term-time workers; and what plans he has to enable term-time workers who average less than 16 hours a week to claim jobseeker's allowance.

Malcolm Wicks: Information on the number of women teaching assistants employed as term-time workers is not held centrally.
	Term-time workers who work on average less than 16 hours a week can already claim jobseeker's allowance, provided they meet the other conditions of entitlement.

Carers

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on his policy on the eligibility of former carers of people affected by asbestosis under 45 years of age for bereavement benefit.

Malcolm Wicks: Bereavement Benefits were introduced on 9 April 2001, and for the first time extended support to both widows and widowers following the death of a spouse. These new benefits concentrate the help available where it is most needed: on immediate needs; on families with children; and on older widows and widowers, who are more likely to have been out of the labour market for some time.
	The Bereavement Payment, a lump sum payment of 2,000 payable mmediately to help with costs arising on bereavement, and Widowed Parent's Allowance are both available to those under 45 years of age where they satisfy the qualifying conditions.

Child Support Agency

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when existing CSA cases will be calculated on the basis of the legislation which came into effect on 3 March.

Malcolm Wicks: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (John Thurso) on 22 May 2003, Official Report, columns 918–19W.

Job Centre/Benefit Office Amalgamation

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many job losses are anticipated in each region and nation from the amalgamation of job centres with benefit offices; how he plans to achieve these job losses and over what timescale; and what consultation is planned with hon. Members whose constituents may be affected.

Nick Brown: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Mr. David Anderson to Mr. Jim Cousins, dated 12 June 2003
	As Jobcentre Plus is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning job losses as the result of Jobcentre Plus roll out. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.
	The national roll-out of Jobcentre Plus is bringing together Jobcentres and Benefit Offices to form new integrated offices. As part of the last spending review, the Government agreed to a major investment plan for the department including over £2bn for rolling out of Jobcentre Plus. A significant part of this investment will be used for better technology, improved training and modernised business processes. As a result we will, over time, need fewer staff to provide enhanced services to our customers.
	In our early planning for each Jobcentre Plus district we are sharing our proposals for service delivery with a wide variety of people and organisations. While these are determined by local management they will include, for example, local MPs, Local Authorities, service delivery partners, employers' representatives, Citizens Advice Bureaux, welfare rights organisations, other Government Agencies, Health Authorities, Housing Associations, our staff and trade union representatives. After views and comments have been taken on board District Managers then share the finally agreed plans with the people and groups described above.
	For districts introducing the new service in 2002/03 the main communications exercises took place between June and September, and we were pleased to receive comments and views on many aspects of our plans. We have taken account of those views, changed our plans where appropriate and responded to those who contacted us.
	Jobcentre Plus plans to reduce its staff numbers to 76,600 by March 2006, equivalent to a 3.5 per cent reduction. However, staffing levels are planned to remain relatively stable over the next year. Regional plans have yet to be agreed for Jobcentre Plus.
	While the precise impact will be different in different parts of the country and there may be areas of greater difficulty, the planned reductions in staffing will be carefully managed and are within our overall margins of staff turnover. We expect therefore to manage this reduction by moving staff to other parts of the Department for Work and Pensions or through natural wastage.
	I hope this is helpful.

Jobcentre Services

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are employed by the jobcentre services in the Bridgwater constituency.

Nick Brown: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Mr. David Anderson to Mr. Ian Liddell-Grainger, dated 12 June 2003
	As Jobcentre Plus is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning how many people are employed by the job services in the Bridgwater constituency. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.
	There are a total of 143 staff employed by Jobcentre Plus in the Bridgwater constituency—37 employed at the Bridgwater Jobcentre, 12 employed at Burnham on Sea Jobcentre Plus and 94 staff at the Bridgwater Social Security office. Some functions take place at Bridgwater for the whole of the Somerset District, including the District Control Point, Jobseeker Direct and Third Party payments. These are all staffed by Jobcentre Plus staff.
	The District is currently undergoing the conversion of its Jobcentres and Social Security offices into Jobcentre Plus offices. The Bridgwater offices are due to become Jobcentre Plus offices from 28 July 2003. The Burnham on Sea office has already been converted.
	No reductions in staff are planned in the Somerset district, however there will be a redeployment of work across the district, for example Social Fund work will be moved from Taunton to Bridgwater.
	I hope this is helpful.

Standard Local Housing Allowance

Iain Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to allow housing benefit claimants sufficient time to move to a cheaper private rental area before being subject to the proposed standard local housing allowance.

Malcolm Wicks: In the ten Pathfinder areas where the standard local housing allowance will be introduced, local authorities will contact people affected by the new scheme to let them know about the change in the way their benefit is calculated.
	We propose to protect existing benefit recipients at the point of transfer if they would lose out under the new scheme. As a result, no one will be forced to move to a cheaper area because of a fall in the amount of housing benefit they receive.

Unemployment Benefit

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many unemployment benefit (Med 3) forms have been reported lost in the last year; and what investigations have been carried out by his Department into missing unemployment benefit (Med 3) forms.

Nick Brown: We are not aware of any major problem with lost or missing Med 3 medical statements. We do not record how many Med 3 medical statements are reported lost each year and we have not carried out any investigations into this matter. If the hon. Gentleman has a specific case in mind I will look into it if he writes to me with specific details.

Working Families Tax Credit

Desmond Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what lessons have been learned from the change from working families tax credit for the implementation of the pension credit.

Maria Eagle: The Department for Work and Pensions has learned a number of lessons from previous take-up campaigns, including working families tax credit, and has adopted a measured take-up approach for pension credit. The Department will, during the period when advance applications for pension credit can be made, continue to evaluate the effectiveness of the marketing campaign in the light of current and previous experience and make any refinements needed to ensure that pensioners take up their entitlement.

Zaccheus Trust

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what response he has made to recent representations from Zaccheus 2000.

Malcolm Wicks: Both Ministers and officials from the Department have received numerous representations from the Zaccheus Trust. The majority of these representations centre on the issue of "budget standards" and minimum incomes.
	In the most recent response, of 4 June 2003, my right hon. and noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Baroness Hollis of Heigham, responded to an inquiry from the Trust dated 16 May. This inquiry was regarding our 'Measuring Child Poverty—Preliminary Conclusions' document, copies of which are available in the Library.
	My right hon. and noble Friend responded to the inquiry by confirming that the recently published preliminary conclusions encompassed the views of those who formally responded to the original 'Measuring Child Poverty' consultation exercise. Baroness Hollis stated that several respondents to the consultation had included views on "budget standards" and they were therefore properly reflected in the response analysis and also in the conclusions set out in the document.
	My right hon. and noble Friend also reiterated, as stated in the response document, that further methodical work will be carried out before finalising any new approach to measuring child poverty in the long term.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Bangladesh

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the government of Bangladesh on the setting up of parliamentary committees in the Bangladeshi Parliament.

Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed the setting up of parliamentary committees with the Bangladesh Foreign Minister when they met on 21 May 2003. Our High Commissioner also raised the issue with the Bangladesh Speaker at the end of April and with the Deputy Speaker and the Opposition Chief Whip in May.
	Our High Commission in Dhaka is in regular dialogue with the Bangladesh government to promote the need for better governance including the importance of a fully participatory Parliament.

Departmental Website

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what actions he has taken or is taking to ensure that the websites of his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies are accessible to partially sighted and blind people; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office have taken a number of measures to ensure their suite of websites are accessible.
	The FCO main website, i-UK website, UK Visas and new embassy and high commission websites have all been built in line with the 'Guidelines for Government Websites' published by the Cabinet Office, which lays down comprehensive guidance on accessibility. The FCO web team have also consulted the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) on issues of accessibility relating to design and functionality of the websites and have put several of their recommendations into practice. In particular we have implemented several features specifically for the benefit of those who are partially sighted or blind, namely a text-only version, government standard access keys and HTML that validates to the internationally accepted standards set by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

EU Enlargement

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on EU enlargement.

Denis MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed EU Enlargement with EU counterparts during the European Conference on 17 April. He also has such discussions with EU counterparts in Brussels on a regular monthly basis, in the forum of the General Affairs and External Relations Council. EU Enlargement is also a frequent subject of discussion during other less formal contacts with EU counterparts, at both Ministerial and official levels.

EU Treaties (Marine Produce)

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the provisions in existing treaties on which claims to exclusive competence over the marine produce of the sea in the draft EU treaty are based.

Denis MacShane: The Union's exclusive competence in respect of "the conservation of marine biological resources under the common fisheries policy" as set out in Article 1–12 of the draft constitution derives from a variety of sources. These sources are EC Treaty Articles dealing with agriculture, Regulations adopted establishing the common fisheries policy. (The current regulation is Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy), and Article 102 of the Act concerning the conditions of Accession and the Adjustments of the Treaties annexed to the UK's Act of Accession.
	The European Court of Justice held in Case C-804/79 that "since the expiration on 1 January 1979 of the transitional period laid down by Article 102 of the Act of Accession, power to adopt, as part of the Common Fisheries Policy , measures relating to the conservation of the resources of the sea has belonged fully and definitively to the Community."

China

Patsy Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent steps he has taken to support the human rights of Falun Gong practitioners in (a) China and (b) Hong Kong.

Bill Rammell: We regularly raise our concerns about the treatment of Falun Gong adherents in China with the Chinese authorities both in bilateral meetings and at the UK/China Human Rights Dialogue, the last round of which was in November last year.
	We have followed closely developments involving Falun Gong in Hong Kong and have reported on these in the Foreign Secretary's regular reports to Parliament on the implementation of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong. Falun Gong remain free to practise in Hong Kong. We have raised the question of Falun Gong with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government in the context of their preparations to implement national security legislation under Article 23 of the Basic Law.

Guantanamo Bay

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to challenge the legality of the detention by the US of UK citizens at Guantanamo Bay.

Mike O'Brien: We have been pressing the US to move forward with the process of determining the detainees' future and shall continue to do so. The detentions cannot be allowed to drag on indefinitely. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister told the House on 26 February 2003, Official Report, column 257 "... we are still receiving quite valuable information from people who are there [Guantanamo Bay]. However, I agree that it is an irregular situation and we would certainly want to bring it to an end as swiftly as possible." The US is aware of our view.

Indonesia

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what representations Her Majesty's Government have made to Indonesia about the use of UK arms in Aceh;
	(2)  what representations Her Majesty's Government have made to Indonesia about the use of UK-produced Hawk jets in Aceh.

Mike O'Brien: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend, the Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn) today (UIN 118135, 118139 and 118140).

Indonesia

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the policy on arms sales to Indonesia has changed since 2001; and what the current policy is.

Mike O'Brien: All export licence applications are rigorously assessed on a case by case basis against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria taking account of the circumstances prevailing at the time and other announced Government policies. Our criteria clearly set out our commitment to take account of the risk that exports might be used for either internal repression or external aggression.
	On the situation regarding sales to Indonesia, I refer my right hon. Friend to the answers I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn) today (UIN 118135, 118138, 118139 and 118140).

Indonesia

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with the Indonesian government this year concerning the use by the Indonesian armed forces of military equipment exported by the UK; and if he will make a statement about the UK's future relations with the Indonesian armed forces;
	(2)  what reports he has received concerning the use of military equipment exported from the UK in military operations in Aceh, Indonesia; and what measures he has taken to ensure that the equipment is used in compliance with guarantees given by the Indonesian government;
	(3)  what representations he has made to the government of Indonesia concerning the use of Hawk aircraft in Aceh; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: I visited Indonesia on 3–4 June 2003, and raised the issue of British-supplied military equipment with President Megawati and senior members of the Indonesian government. I reminded them of the assurances about the use of British-supplied military equipment in Aceh, and warned of the possible consequences for defence sales and defence relationships if there was a breach of the assurances. I also stressed that Indonesian military action in Aceh should be proportionate and in accordance with international standards on human rights.
	The Indonesian government confirmed that British-supplied Hawk aircraft were used in Aceh on 19 May 2003 but claimed they were not used in violation of the assurances. We will be using all available sources of information to monitor the use of British-supplied equipment and will follow up all credible allegations on the misuse of British-military equipment.

Indonesia

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what changes have been made since May 1997 to guarantees given by the Indonesian government concerning the use of military equipment exported from the UK; and what guarantees apply to the use of such equipment.

Mike O'Brien: Before August 2002 the Indonesian government provided assurances that British-supplied military equipment would not be used in Aceh, or be used anywhere in Indonesia against civilians to prevent the exercise of their rights of free expression, assembly and association of other international human rights standards. The Indonesian government added that if, against expectations, they were to contemplate the use of such equipment in Aceh at a later stage they would inform the British government in advance.
	In August 2002 the British Government received advance notification from the Indonesian government that they may deploy British-built military equipment to Aceh for casualty removal and logistics. Hawk jets do not perform these tasks. Ministers agreed in September 2002 to fresh assurances that British-built military equipment would not be used to violate human rights anywhere in Indonesia nor would the equipment be used offensively.
	The assurances apply to all British-supplied military equipment. I emphasised the continuing importance we attach to the assurances during my recent visit to Indonesia.

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether it is his policy that the reconstruction of the (a) infrastructure and (b) private homes damaged or destroyed in the invasion of Iraq should be paid for by Iraq.

Mike O'Brien: We have committed £115 million to the humanitarian and reconstruction effort in Iraq with a further £95 million set aside to support further needs as they arise. We are working hard through the Coalition Provisional Authority to ensure that progress is being made in restoring the civilian infrastructure, including with the Iraqi Ministries. Iraq's long-term reconstruction needs will be substantial and it is too soon to determine specific allocations for the reconstruction of private property.

Israel

Jackie Lawrence: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the obligatory waivers absolving the Israeli Defence Force from responsibility if it shoots foreign nationals while in the Gaza Strip.

Mike O'Brien: Following pressure from the international community in May, Israel withdrew the requirement for people entering the Gaza Strip to sign waivers. However, we remain concerned about restrictions on access to Gaza that continue to hinder the international community from carrying out humanitarian work there. We expect Israel to do all it can to ease restrictions, without delay, both in Gaza and the West Bank.

North Korea

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his assessment of the extent of religious persecution in North Korea; what measures the Department has been able to initiate to indicate the concerns of Her Majesty's Government to the Government of North Korea; and what initiatives it has taken on behalf of named individuals persecuted.

Bill Rammell: We are concerned about the reports of serious human rights violations, including religious persecution, in North Korea. But the lack of access for independent monitors makes it difficult for the international community to verify these reports. Our establishment of diplomatic relations and an Embassy in North Korea enable us to use official channels to raise human rights issues, including religious persecution, at regular intervals.
	The UK also supports EU efforts in this area. The EU has been monitoring the situation closely, and took the decision to table a resolution at this year's UN Commission on Human Rights. The resolution, which was adopted by a wide margin on 16 April, urges North Korea to co-operate with the UN human rights mechanisms. We hope that such pressure will bring about a positive change in North Korea with respect to religious tolerance and the observance of human rights.

United States

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received regarding the proposed sale of the consular residence in Pacific Avenue, San Francisco; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: Since 1999 my colleagues and I have replied to eight letters from hon. Friends and hon. Members on this subject. Three were from my hon. Friend the Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey (Mr. Derek Wyatt). We have also replied to seven written Questions from him. He submitted an Early Day Motion in April and I discussed the matter personally with him on 7 May.
	Some of the letters from hon. Friends and Members were prompted by representations from the British American Chamber of Commerce (Northern California Branch) who have also written to me direct and to other Ministers. The President of the British-American Business Council has also expressed his views, as has the Mayor of San Francisco.
	These representations have left us in no doubt that the Pacific Heights house is much appreciated by the local British community. After reading through the relevant papers I have nevertheless concluded that the sale should go ahead. It is an important element in our programme of "asset recycling", aimed at improving value for money and modernising our estate. After meeting the cost of a new Residence, the sale will yield capital funds that the FCO can re-invest in additional facilities elsewhere. I believe that the new Residence, which is closer to the normal size guidelines, will prove operationally effective while costing far less to own and run.

Sri Lanka

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received from the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka on the conditions in which the Tamil community in Sri Lanka are living; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: Most Tamils live in the north and east (the most conflict-affected areas), or in the hill country (the plantation sector). However, there are communities throughout the island and at all levels of society. Therefore the living conditions vary greatly. Since the ceasefire in February 2002 conditions have improved in the north and east, and we hope that this will continue as the peace rocess moves forward.

State Visits

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy that the Foreign Affairs Committee should be included or represented in the programme of events for state visits to the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: I welcome my hon. Friend's suggestion.
	In future, we will consult heads of state making a state visit about FAC involvement, in the early stages of planning for such visits.

United Nations

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the future of the UN.

Bill Rammell: The Government are committed to maintaining a strong and effective United Nations. We support the UN Secretary-General in his efforts to make the organisation more efficient and to focus UN activities on high priority areas such as counter-terrorism, human rights, poverty reduction and sustainable development. We are committed to reform of the Security Council to make it more representative of the modern world, including an increase in both permanent and non-permanent membership.

Western Sahara

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has held with the government of Morocco covering the future of the Western Sahara; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: The situation in Western Sahara was discussed when my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary met Mohamed Benaissa, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Morocco on 20 May 2003. The Foreign Secretary reiterated that he hoped to see agreement between the parties which would resolve the dispute.

LORD CHANCELLOR

Trespass

John Pugh: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what recent changes there have been in the law of trespass to allow individuals to seek compensation where their premises are trespassed upon for the commercial advantage of another.

Yvette Cooper: There have been no recent changes to the law in this area. Trespass to land is a civil wrong, the most common form of which is committed when an unlawful visitor directly physically interferes with the owner's land without lawful justification. Once the boundary has been breached the landowner may approach the courts to seek an injunction to restrain the continuation of the trespass. The landowner may also have a legal cause of action for damages suffered because of the trespass. The recovery of damages might be only a small amount for the technical trespass, unless actual damage can be proved such as the cost of repairing a fence or gate broken by the trespasser.

Pay Audits

Angela Eagle: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what progress has been made on completing a pay audit in the Lord Chancellor's Department and its non-departmental public bodies to measure any disadvantage in terms of remuneration for (a) women, (b) ethnic minorities and (c) people with disabilities; and if she will publish the results of such an audit.

Rosie Winterton: In common with other Government departments and agencies, and in accordance with Cabinet Office guidelines, my Department has undertaken a gender equality audit of pay and related systems. An action plan drawn up from the audit has been submitted to the Cabinet Office. Although not a Cabinet Office requirement, an audit of pay is also being undertaken in respect of ethnicity and disability. The commitment to conduct gender equality audits of pay does not extend formally to NDPBs, but the Legal Services Commission has undertaken such an audit and proposes also to undertake a pay audit of ethnicity and disability. The Children and Family Courts Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) proposes to conduct an equality audit later this year, once terms and conditions of its staff have been harmonised. I expect action plans arising from the audits to be placed in the Library of the House in due course.

Salisbury Courts

Robert Key: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will make a statement on the future of the magistrates courts and Crown courts in Salisbury.

Yvette Cooper: It is planned that a new combined courthouse in Salisbury will be opened in 2005/06. My officials are currently working with the Wiltshire magistrates courts committee and Wiltshire county council to develop plans for a 4 court centre. This new court will bring together magistrates Crown and county court facilities under one roof for the first time in Salisbury. The new courthouse will provide modern facilities for all users. In particular it will consider the needs of vulnerable witnesses and the Disabled.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Business Rates

Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he intends to publish details of his proposals to allow local authorities to retain a proportion of increases in business rates attributable to new commercial developments within their area.

Nick Raynsford: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister intends to consult on this proposal later in the summer.

Community Equipment Services

Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much funding in total has been disbursed under the local authority promoting independence grant for community equipment services.

Jacqui Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	In the years 2001 to 2003, while the promoting independence grant was available, some councils may have chosen to use it to help support the modernisation and integration of community equipment services. However, information on such amounts has not been collected centrally. The Department of Health continues to support the development of these services through additions to baseline national health service and social services allocations. In addition, £7.4 million has been made available to councils for community equipment as part of the access and systems grant in 2003–04.

Counselling Services

Paul Marsden: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what arrangements are made in his Department to allow staff to access counselling services.

Christopher Leslie: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's counselling and support service is available to all its staff, including those in its agencies. Staff are able to access the service direct during office hours about any issue, personal or work related.

Departmental Expenditure (Training)

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the (a) cash and (b) real terms training budget has been each year for his Department; and how much in each year in (i) cash and (ii) real terms was directed to the training of young people.

Christopher Leslie: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was established in May 2002. From May 2002 to the end of March 2003 expenditure on training totalled £3.2 million. There is no specific budget for the training of young people. In accordance with Government-wide resource accounting and budgeting guidelines, expenditure on training and other services is recorded on an accruals basis; there is therefore no record of expenditure on a cash basis.

Regional Assemblies

Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what analysis he has made of the responses received to his consultation exercise on level of interest in a referendum in respect of elected regional assemblies.

Nick Raynsford: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister is considering views, information and evidence that has been received about the level of interest in holding referendums on elected regional assemblies. Decisions will be announced shortly as to which region(s) should proceed towards referendums and a summary of responses to the soundings exercise will be published at the same time.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Advocacy Services

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to reform funding for citizens advocacy groups to improve the co-ordination of advocacy work by volunteers.

Jacqui Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government attaches great importance to the development of advocacy services as one of the means that enable the views of patients to be represented.
	Our policies for improving services for people with learning disabilities, their families and carers are set out in the White Paper "Valuing People: A New Strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century" (Cm 5086) published in March 2001. The importance of advocacy is a theme running throughout the White Paper: effective advocacy services can make a real difference to the lives of people with learning disabilities and their families by helping them to put forward their views and play an active part in planning and designing services.
	"Valuing People" announced the creation of two new funds, the Implementation Support Fund and the Learning Disability Development Fund, to provide central support for key aspects of the strategy. Money from the Implementation Support Fund is being used to support and develop self and citizen advocacy projects across the country. Two voluntary organisations, the British Institute of Learning Disabilities (BILD) and Values into Action (VIA) are running separate schemes to develop and fund citizen advocacy and self advocacy respectively on the Department of Health's behalf. Both organisations have steering groups to oversee the projects and to ensure fairness in the way the funds are allocated.
	£900,000 from the Implementation Support Fund was allocated to advocacy projects in 2001–02 and £1 million in 2002–03; £1 million is being allocated in 2003–04. A further £300,000 was allocated in 2001–02 to administer the funding schemes and support development workers to work with and strengthen existing advocacy schemes and help set up new ones: this amount increased to £400,000 in both 2002–03 and 2003–04.
	We announced in our report on learning disability, "Making Change Happen" (HC514–11), published in April 2003, that the Implementation Support Fund would continue until March 2006. The fund will support the same areas of work as at present. The learning disability task force, which has members drawn from both the self and citizen advocacy movements, will be involved in discussions about the detailed use of the Support Fund.
	Mental health policies pay equal importance to the use of advocacy. The draft Mental Health Bill, published on 25 June 2002, provides for the first time that specialist mental health advocacy must be available for all patients being treated under compulsory powers and their nominated persons. This new duty ensures that patients can have the help of specialist advocacy when it is most needed. There are also proposals in the draft Bill for safeguards, including access to advocacy, for some adult patients who have a long-term incapacity to consent and who are in a hospital or nursing home receiving treatment for a serious mental disorder.

Airguns

Julia Drown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce a register of dealers for sales of airguns.

Bob Ainsworth: We do not believe that a register of dealers would of itself help in tackling the problems caused by the misuse of air weapons.
	Instead as part of the Anti-social Behaviour Bill, we are increasing from fourteen to seventeen the age at which a young person can own an air weapon and introducing further controls on unsupervised use. We are also introducing a new offence of having an air weapon in a public place without lawful authority or reasonable excuse.

Antisocial Behaviour

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the extension of powers to be made available under the provisions of the Anti-social Behaviour Bill to (a) community support officers and (b) accredited persons.

Bob Ainsworth: Subject to Parliamentary approval the Anti-social Behaviour Bill will extend the following powers to community support officers (CSOs) and accredited persons:
	CSOs only
	The power to disperse groups
	Both CSOs and accredited persons
	The power to issue a fixed penalty notice for graffiti and fly-posting.
	The power to issue a fixed penalty notice to parents for truancy.
	The power to stop cyclists in order to issue a fixed penalty notice for cycling on a footpath.
	Accredited persons only
	Accredited persons will also be given the power to issue penalty notices for disorder (CSOs already have this power). As they do not have the power to detain, accredited persons will not be able to issue penalty notices for the offences of disorderly behaviour while drunk in a public place and being drunk in a highway, other public place or licensed premises. They will, though, be able to issue penalty notices for the following offences:
	Throwing fireworks in a thoroughfare.
	Knowingly giving false alarm to a fire brigade.
	Trespassing on a railway.
	Throwing stones etc at trains and other things on railways.
	Buying or attempting to buy alcohol for consumption in bar in licensed premises by a person under 18.
	Wasting police time or giving false report.
	Using public telecommunications systems for sending messages known to be false in order to cause annoyance.
	Behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

Antisocial Behaviour

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to ensure that (a) the police, (b) housing associations and (c) local councils are informed of (i) the powers available to them to tackle anti-social behaviour and (ii) the powers to be made available to them under the Anti-Social Behaviour Bill.

Bob Ainsworth: The National Director of the Anti-Social Behaviour Unit and members of her team visited many Local Authority areas where they have met with local councils, police, residents, attended public meetings and spoken at conferences to highlight both current and new powers available for tackling anti-social behaviour.
	The Anti-Social Behaviour Unit is now considering a range of options, to look how to ensure all relevant people and organisations are aware of the powers available to them.

Asylum Centres

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason the number of performance points incurred under the contract for each asylum detention centre is commercially confidential.

Beverley Hughes: Commercial confidentially in contracts is designed to protect the integrity of the competitive process. It is not appropriate to release information which would undermine the policy.
	Our contracts reserve the right for us to publish information about the performance of contractors in response to inquiries from Parliament, its Members and Officers.
	In the light of this I am now able to release the following information concerning Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre.
	
		Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre
		
			  Performance points 
		
		
			 First year of operation: September 2001-August 2002 (operating schedule D) 1 escape—500 points 
			 Second year of operation: September 2002-May 2003 2 escapes—500 points x 2 
			 2 failures to release—500 points x 2 
		
	
	Schedule G of the contract "Performance Measures" is already available in the Library.

Asylum Seekers

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Immigration and Nationality Directorate staff have assisted in the deportation of asylum seekers living in the London Borough of Harrow in the last 12 months.

Beverley Hughes: It is not possible to say how many Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) staff have assisted in the removal of asylum seekers from the London Borough of Harrow. This is because neither IND or Immigration Service staff concentrate on the removal of asylum seekers living in specific boroughs or towns, but instead concentrate on the removal of asylum seekers from the geographical area that is covered by each Local Enforcement Office (LEO).

British Overseas Territories

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many British Overseas Territories citizens have applied for British citizen passports since 21May 2002.

Beverley Hughes: At the end of May 2003, 12,331 applications for British citizen passports had been received from British Overseas Territories citizens resident in Overseas Territories. No information is available on applications made outside the Territories.

Drugs

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many criminal groups involved in supplying class A drugs to the UK have been dismantled each year since May 2000.

Bob Ainsworth: The numbers of groups involved in supplying class A drugs disrupted or dismantled each year since May 2000, are as follows:
	
		
			  Numbers 
		
		
			 1 April 2000—31 March 2001: 306 
			 1 April 2001—31 March 2002: 343 
			 1 April 2002—31 March 2003: not yet available

Cloned Number Plates

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what new action the Metropolitan police will take in respect of cloned number plates on vehicles; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: The introduction of congestion charging in the centre of London provides additional opportunities to identify vehicles with cloned number plates and for the Metropolitan police to take action against them. The Metropolitan police are currently considering how they can get the best crime reduction return from the investment of police resources in this work. But existing procedures already provide for cloned registration numbers to be entered on the Police National Computer and on the databases used by police Automatic Number Plate Reader operations. This increases the likelihood of cloned vehicles coming to police attention and appropriate action being taken.

Community Support Officers

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the powers available to (a) community support officers and (b) accredited persons.

Bob Ainsworth: The following powers are available to both community support officers (CSOs) and accredited persons:
	Power to issue fixed penalty notices for dog fouling, littering and riding a bicycle on a footpath.
	Power to request a name and address for fixed penalty offences and offences that cause injury alarm and distress to another person or damage or loss of another's property.
	Power to request the name and address of a person acting in an anti-social manner.
	Power to request a person to stop drinking in a designated public area and to surrender open containers of alcohol.
	Power to confiscate alcohol from Young Persons.
	Power to confiscate cigarettes and tobacco products from young people.
	Power to stop vehicles for testing.
	Power to regulate traffic for the purpose of escorting abnormal loads.
	Power to require the removal of abandoned vehicles.
	The following powers are only available to CSOs. The first two, concerning detention, are being piloted in six police force areas only for the first two years:
	Power to detain a person for up to 30 minutes pending the arrival of a constable (or to accompany that person to a police station with the person's agreement).
	Power to use reasonable force to detain a person or prevent him from making off.
	Power of entry to save life or limb, or to prevent serious damage to property.
	Power to maintain and enforce a cordoned area established under the Terrorism Act. Power to seize vehicles used to cause alarm and distress,
	Power to stop vehicles for the purposes of a road check.
	Power to, when accompanied by a constable, stop and search vehicles and pedestrians under the Terrorism Act.
	CSOs also have the power to issue Penalty Notices for Disorder. This power is not currently in use and is awaiting the result of a police trial before commencement. Once commenced, CSOs will be able to issue Penalty Notices for the following offences:
	Being drunk on a highway, other public place or licensed premises.
	Disorderly behaviour while drunk in a public place.
	Throwing fireworks in a thoroughfare.
	Knowingly giving false alarm to a fire brigade.
	Trespassing on a railway.
	Throwing stones etc. at trains and other things on railways.
	Buying or attempting to buy alcohol for consumption in bar in licensed premises by a person under 18.
	Wasting police time or giving false report.
	Using public telecommunications systems for sending message known to be false in order to cause annoyance behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.
	As my hon. Friend will be aware, there are also currently provisions in the Anti Social Behaviour Bill to extend further the powers of both CSOs and accredited persons.

Community Support Officers

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the results of the pilot projects being run to test the use of the power of detention by community support officers.

Bob Ainsworth: Six forces are piloting the use of the power of detention by community support officers. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary are evaluating the pilots and are due to report after 2 December 2004 on the operation of the power in its first two years. At this stage it is still too early to report on any findings from the evaluation.

Contingency Planning

Kenneth Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many members of the emergency services in the East Midlands Region have been supplied with full protective equipment including respirators for use in responding to a nuclear, biological or chemical terrorist attack.

David Blunkett: holding answer 3 June 2003
	On police protective equipment I refer the right hon. and learned Member to the answer I gave on specialist training on 9 June 2003, Official Report, column 663W.
	On health service protective equipment I refer the right hon. Member to the answers my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary for Health (Mr. Lammy) gave on Ambulance Service and Accident and Emergency departments' equipment and training on 3 June 2003, Official Report, column 351W, 5 June 2003, Official Report, column 571W, and 9 June 2003, Official Report, column 693W.
	On fire service protective equipment, full protective equipment is not purchased solely for the purpose of responding to a CBRN terrorist attack. It is used in the response to accidents and in other day-to-day operations.
	The East Midlands Region has approximately 475 gas tight suits which are carried on conventional front line fire appliances and specialist vehicles—these are to be supplemented, in the short-term, by a further 40 suits which are being deployed imminently on two Interim Mass Decontamination Vehicles at appropriate locations within the region.
	The deployment of this equipment during emergencies is not tied to geographical regions and, depending on the nature and scale of the incident and if necessary, the East Midlands may receive equipment from or supply equipment to other regions via Mutual Aid Agreements—this is the case for both CBRN incidents and day-to-day operations.

Family Visitor Appeals

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to publish the final report of the inter-departmental review of family visitor appeals.

Beverley Hughes: The report was published on 11 June 2003. Copies have now been placed in the Library.

Heavy Goods Vehicle Thefts

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police authorities have a dedicated team to identify and bring to justice those involved in theft of and from heavy goods vehicles.

Bob Ainsworth: Such teams, where they exist, are within police forces not police authorities. Police authorities publish annual and three-year strategic policing plans which set out local priorities and resources. But how those resources are to be used to deliver the local priorities is primarily a matter for Chief Officers. Information on how many forces have dedicated teams to combat thefts of and from heavy goods vehicles is not collected centrally.

Immigration and Nationality Directorate

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many items have been lost once deposited at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (a) in 2002 and (b) to date in 2003; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Records are kept in respect of the numbers of searches that are conducted by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) Return of Passport Unit in respect of documents—mostly passports—whose immediate return are requested by their owners. In 2002 the Return of Passport Unit received 4,203 requests for the return of documents and issued 390 lost passport letters; as at 31 May this year, the Unit has received 1,774 requests for the return of documents and 308 lost passport letters have been issued. A range of measures including the setting up of secure handling areas and the early return of sponsors' passports are currently being put in place to significantly improve IND's ability to find and return documents at the time of request.

Memorials (Safety)

Janet Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 24 February 2003, Official Report, column 580W, on Memorials (safety), when guidance will be issued to local authorities about the safety-testing of non-monolithic memorials without ground anchor fixing; and if he will list the organisations from which he has taken evidence.

Paul Goggins: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, Central (Hilary Benn) on 24 February 2003, Official Report, column 579W. We are aiming to issue appropriate guidance on memorial safety to local burial authorities by the end of the year. The issues are being considered by a working group consisting of the following organisations:
	Association of Burial Authorities
	Confederation of Burial Authorities
	Cruse Bereavement Care
	English Heritage
	Federation of British Cremation Authorities
	Health and Safety Executive
	Institute of Burial and Cremation Administration
	Local Government Association
	Muslim Council of Great Britain/Muslim Burial Council of Leicestershire
	National Association of Local Councils
	National Association of Memorial Masons (Chair)
	Society of Local Council Clerks

Methadone

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research his Department has done into (a) Subutex and (b) other substitutes for methadone.

Bob Ainsworth: Methadone is the preferred clinical option in the treatment of opioid dependency and is supported by strong international evidence base.
	There is a growing body of evidence for the efficacy of buprenorphine (Subutex) in the treatment of opioid dependence. The level of evidence does not suggest that buprenorphine should replace methadone as a substitution treatment, but rather that buprenorphine should now be considered an evidence-based addition to the range of pharmacological maintenance treatments. Much of the emerging evidence derives from other European countries and the evidence for efficacy of this treatment in Britain is very limited and based on very few studies.
	Clinical guidelines on the management of drug misuse and dependence were issued by the Department of Health in 1999 and outline a range of substitute drugs that doctors may prescribe as appropriate.

Passports

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate his Department has made of the number of lost and stolen passports in circulation in the UK.

Beverley Hughes: The UK Passport Service (UKPS) records information on passports reported lost, stolen or unavailable. The information UKPS has recorded for the last five years has been shown in the following table:
	
		Passports lost, stolen or unavailable
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1998 31,497 
			 1999 62,364 
			 2000 114,624 
			 2001 148,230 
			 2002 166,358 
		
	
	A proportion of passports are reported lost or stolen at British Diplomatic posts abroad. This coupled with the fact that the UK Passport Service does not routinely receive notification of passports recovered by other authorities, makes it extremely difficult to make a reasonable estimate as to the number of such passports in circulation within the United Kingdom.
	The UKPS is introducing a more comprehensive system for recording and disseminating information on lost, stolen and recovered passports. This system is due to go live in December of this year. It will enable the timely and accurate collection and dissemination of information on lost, stolen and recovered passports in the United Kingdom and by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) posts abroad.

Police (Southend)

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the police establishment is in Southend, West; and how many officers were in post on 1 June.

Bob Ainsworth: Southend,West is part of the Southend Basic Command Unit (BCU) of Essex police. Decisions about the deployment of officers between BCUs and other units of the force are matters for the Chief Constable (Mr. D. F. Stevens).
	Information is not collected centrally about the number of officers deployed to Basic Command Units as at 1 June. However, I refer the hon. Member to the reply by my right hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Itchen (Mr. Denham) to the hon. Member for Southwark, North and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes) of 2 December 2002, Official Report, column 589W, setting out police strength for each Basic Command Unit for each force in England and Wales as at 31 March 2002.
	For Essex police as a whole, the latest figures show that at 30 September 2002 the force had 2,988 police officers, a record number, and at 31 March 2002 the force had 1,571 civilian staff.

Prisons

Harold Best: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prison officers were incapacitated suffering from post traumatic stress related illness in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: Sickness absence is recorded in terms of the reason for absence although there is no specific category for post traumatic stress disorder. The following table provides the number of cases recorded among officer grade staff for stress related conditions in each year since April 1999. Reliable sickness absence information is not available prior to 1999.
	
		
			  New cases of absence due to stress related conditions among officers 
		
		
			 1999–2000 (3)1,894 
			 2000–01 1,964 
			 2001–02 1,990 
			 2002–03 2,164 
		
	
	(3) Includes cases which began prior to 1 April 1999.
	Note:
	Figures relate to prison officer, senior officer and principal officer grades.

Prisons

Paul Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the impact on the prison population of the Criminal Justice Bill; and what consequential changes he plans to make to the level of provision in the prison estate;
	(2)  if he will publish a prison population impact assessment for each part of the Criminal Justice Bill.

Paul Goggins: The provisions in the Criminal Justice Bill which reform the sentencing framework will make it possible to ensure that the most serious violent, sexual and persistent offenders spend longer in prison while allowing other offenders to be dealt with by means of tougher and more effective community sentences. In addition, custody plus and custody minus will provide an option for those offenders whose offences are serious enough to justify custody, but where the concentration of rehabilitative work occurs in the community. The projected net effect on the prison population of the implementation of the provisions to reform the sentencing framework, is an increase of about 1,000 in the prison population by 2009. The impact is estimated to be about 500 once all the changes have been implemented and sufficient time has passed for their full effects to be seen.
	The firearms offences provisions in the Bill will provide for a mandatory minimum custodial sentence for unauthorised possession of a prohibited firearm. The estimated effect on the prison population of the implementation of these provisions, and the implementation of the provision providing for increase in penalties for certain driving-related offences causing death, is an increase of about 500 in the prison population.
	The effect of life sentence provisions in the Bill will provide for the determination of minimum term in relation to mandatory life sentence. It is assumed that the effect of these provisions on the prison population will not be felt for a decade. In around 20 years time, the projected effect on the prison population is estimated to be an increase of about 1,000 in the prison population. In around 30 to 60 years time, once all the changes have been implemented and when sufficient time has passed for the full effect to be seen, the impact is estimated to be in the order of 1,200.
	The restriction on bail for drug users provision will be piloted in selected court areas. The provision aims to reduce re-offending by encouraging drug-misusing offenders into effective drug treatment programmes where appropriate. Part of the pilot evaluation will focus on the likely impacts of the provision on prison population if it were to be extended more widely. A study is planned to assess the likely effect on the prison population of the provisions introducing a presumption against the grant of bail to defendants who have failed to surrender. The measure is intended to deter offenders from abusing bail.
	The Government is providing additional capacity. Spending Review 2000 and the 2003 budget provided funds for 2,820 additional prison places to be built at existing prisons. Two new prisons will also be opened at Ashford and Peterborough. Together with building programmes in progress, these two additional programmes will increase the total useable capacity of the prison service estate from 74,030 to around 78,700 by 2006.
	The prison service continues to investigate options for providing further increases in capacity over the coming years, as part of the Government's prison modernisation strategy. This is based on a combination of expanding capacity in existing prisons that we want to keep in the long term and a programme to build new large multi-function prisons.

Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency.

Bob Ainsworth: The Secretary of State for the Home Department has an overarching role in monitoring progress against the UK drug strategy, taking account of the distinctive substance misuse strategies in the other countries of the UK. The Scottish Executive is responsible for setting the direction of the drug strategy in Scotland and monitoring its progress.
	The Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency (SDEA) maintains regular contact with officials in the Home Office and other relevant Whitehall Departments.

Sex Industry

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures are being taken to ensure that women and young girls being illegally trafficked to work in the sex industry are identified at entry points into the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: The Home Office has recently published the 'trafficking toolkit', providing guidance for immigration and police officers on how to recognise a victim of trafficking and what to do if such a victim is encountered. The toolkit is available on-line at www.crimereduction.gov.uk/toolkits. An abridged version in hard copy has also been produced for widespread distribution to frontline workers such as police, Immigration Service and Social Services.
	Training provided to police and immigration officers is through the practical sharing of skills and experience across agencies. Additionally, two immigration officers on attachment to the National Crime Squad Immigration Crime Team (ICT) have attended a week-long multi-agency 'training for trainers' trafficking course run by the Child and Women Abuse Studies Unit of the London Metropolitan University. They have cascaded the training to ICT colleagues.
	There is also work under way involving key agencies at principal entry points to identify children at risk, including pilot projects involving the Immigration Service, Police and Social Services at Heathrow and Dover.

Sex Industry

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which countries have been identified by his Department as entry and destination points for the illegal trafficking and trade of women and young girls for work in the sex industry.

Beverley Hughes: The Government's strategy recognises the importance of intelligence and joint operations in source and transit countries. Through the Reflex multi-agency taskforce on organised immigration crime, detailed intelligence assessments have been drawn up. These are operationally sensitive, but have been used to inform the deployment of a network of immigration liaison officers (ILOs) in order to develop intelligence and operational co-operation in source and transit countries. The ILOs are posted at key nexus points in eastern and south-eastern Europe with plans to increase the number of officers deployed.
	In addition, we have been working with key source and transit countries to develop their capability to tackle trafficking. Project Immpact, a UK-led EU initiative in Bosnia, which has led to the identification of trafficked women, is a good example of this. A second phase of Immpact will be commencing shortly in Serbia and Montenegro. Reflex Romania, a joint capacity-building exercise between UK and Romanian law enforcement, is another example of the work that is under way in the areas vulnerable to the threat of organised immigration crime.

Sex Industry

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provisions are (a) available and (b) being developed for victims of child trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.

Beverley Hughes: Social services have a duty under the Children Act 1989 to safeguard and promote the welfare of children who are in need by providing a range and level of services appropriate to those children's needs or, where appropriate, by arranging for the provision of services from other agencies. Child victims of trafficking are referred to social services to receive assistance and support based on their particular needs. They may arrive in this country as unaccompanied minors seeking asylum, or accompanied by an adult. In the latter case, if anyone who comes into contact with the child is concerned that the child is the victim of abuse or neglect, they should refer the child to the relevant local authority's social services department. Unaccompanied minors seeking asylum will also be referred to social services. This care will be determined by a needs assessment according to the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families. Child victims of trafficking are likely to be in need of welfare services and—in many cases—protection under the Children Act 1989.
	Where there is a risk to the life of a child or a likelihood of serious harm, an agency with statutory child protection powers, for example, the police or councils with social services responsibilities, will act quickly to secure the immediate initial safety of the child. In some cases, it may be necessary to ensure that the child remains in, or is removed to, a safe place. Under section 20 of the Children Act 1989 a local authority may provide accommodation for any child within their area if they consider that to do so would safeguard or promote the child's welfare. This may involve placing the child in a foster placement or it may place the child in a children's home.
	There are only very limited circumstances in which it is an option to hold a young person in secure accommodation. The Children Act 1989 permits that children may only be held in secure conditions if they satisfy certain specific grounds such as a likelihood of absconding together with a likelihood that injury would be caused to the young person themselves or others. This requires the approval of the courts.
	The Home Office trafficking toolkit has been produced to aid front line agencies such as social services, Immigration Services and police in recognising victims of trafficking and treating them appropriately. The toolkit is available on-line at: www.crimereduction.gov.uk/toolkits. An abridged version in hard copy has also been produced for widespread distribution to these workers.
	There is also work under way involving key agencies at principal entry points to identify children at risk, including pilot projects involving the Immigration Service, Police and Social Services at Heathrow and Dover.
	The Department of Health co-ordinate the National Plan for Protecting Children from Commercial Sexual Exploitation.

Sex Industry

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to work with international law enforcement agencies to tackle the trafficking of women, with particular reference to those from Eastern bloc countries; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: In committing ourselves to tackling people trafficking, we recognise that effective action must be conducted with our international partners.
	Since 2000, all operational activity targeted against serious and organised criminal involvement in illegal immigration is co-ordinated through Reflex. Reflex has overseen the establishment of a network of immigration liaison officers in key source and transit countries whose role is to build up intelligence on routes and methods and support joint working to tackle criminal gangs. Immigration liaison officers are already posted at key nexus points in eastern and south-eastern Europe and the network will be extended shortly.
	Reflex has established close operational links with Europol, where a dedicated United Kingdom liaison officer is based, covering organised immigration crime. Europol has developed an action plan on trafficking, which was approved at the recent meeting of the ED Police Chief Task Force held by the Greek Presidency. This will form the basis for co-operation with EU candidate countries for joint operations to tackle trafficking networks.
	The UK is also supporting work by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe to develop an action plan covering common standards for tackling trafficking in the fields of law enforcement, prevention and legislation.
	In addition, the UK is also involved in a number of bilateral projects in Romania, Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro.

Somali Community

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions have been held with representatives of the Somali community concerning their needs and role in society; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: The Home Office has not held discussions with representatives of the Somali community on this subject. Meeting the needs of this or any other group in society is a matter for local service providers.

Speed Cameras

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many instances of criminal damage to speed cameras were reported in each of the last five years.

Bob Ainsworth: The requested information is not available centrally.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Ambulance Service

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures he plans to take to improve morale among members of the Ambulance Service of Northern Ireland.

Des Browne: I am not aware of any specific problems concerning morale in the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service. However, I am alert to the potential impact on morale that violence against ambulance staff might have. The Ambulance Service has undertaken a wide range of initiatives to address this problem including staff training, the review of its violence to staff policy; better reporting mechanisms, public outreach work, enhanced security measures and increased local and regional liaison with PSNI. The Trust also extensively lobbies public representatives to use their influence to support and assist NIAS and works with local community groups and schools to try and raise awareness and prevent attacks from occurring.

Consultants

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many vacant consultant posts there are in Northern Ireland; in which trusts they are; and how many have been vacant for more than (a) three months, (b) six months and (c) 12 months.

Des Browne: Information for this question can be found in the following table:
	
		Number of vacant consultant posts (WTE(4)) in Northern Ireland by trust and duration
		
			 Health and Social Services (HSS) Trust Number of vacant consultant posts as at 3l March 2003 Number vacant more thanthree months Number vacant more thansix months Number vacant more than12 months 
		
		
			 Altnagelvin Group HSS Trust 7.5 5.0 5.0 2.0 
			 Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust 11. 0 8.0 4.0 1.0 
			 Causeway HSS Trust 3.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust 2.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 
			 Craigavon and Banbridge Community HSS Trust 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Down Lisburn HSS Trust 3.0 3.0 3.0 1.0 
			 Foyle Community HSS Trust 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 
			 Green Park Healthcare HSS Trust 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Homefirst Community HSS Trust 2.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 
			 Mater Infirmorum Hospital HSS Trust 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 
			 Newry and Mourne HSS Trust 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 
			 North and West Belfast HSS Trust 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 South and East Belfast HSS Trust 0.8 0.8 0.0 0.0 
			 Sperrin Lakeland HSS Trust 6.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 
			 Ulster Community and Hospitals Group HSS Trust 3.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 United Hospitals Group HSS Trust 6.0 6.0 6.0 5.0 
			 Total 46.8 34.3 28.5 18.5 
		
	
	(4) Whole time equivalent

Cultural Diversity

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in promoting cultural diversity since the suspension of the Assembly.

Angela Smith: The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure in pursuing its vision of "a confident, creative, informed and prosperous society" is committed both to promoting a greater respect and understanding of the richness of our cultural and linguistic diversity and to celebrating this diversity. In progressing this objective the Department supported Diversity 21 as a means of examining cultural diversity with a view to promoting deeper understanding and to represent this diversity as a sign of strength in our society. Diversity 21 provided the means of promoting cultural diversity work already happening; identifying and delivery of new projects aimed at stimulating the imagination and exploring diversity in an open, creative and accessible way; and providing a cultural diversity grant funding scheme. In this way the Department supported a schedule of exhibitions on language, faith and history in Northern Ireland and the wider Commonwealth, to a number of organisations and community groups throughout the Province; a programme of workshops on the different drums of Northern Ireland and various projects aimed at progressing the cultural diversity agenda. In addition the Department under the Diversity 21 funding programme supported a range of community based projects.
	Since the suspension of the Assembly the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure has fulfilled its commitments within the Diversity 21 programme and funding scheme. In the interests of ensuring the optimum approach to cultural diversity within the DCAL remit, the Department has also evaluated the Diversity 21 Programme and is currently considering a policy framework which will enable it to take forward the cultural diversity agenda in a structured and comprehensive way.

Departmental Advertising

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the total expenditure on advertising by the Department was in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03; and what the level of planned expenditure is for (i) 2003–04 and (ii) 2004–05.

Paul Murphy: The total expenditure on advertising by the Northern Ireland Office, including its Agencies, for the period 2001–02 to 2003–04 is set out in the table. Advertising budgets have not yet been agreed for 2004–05.
	
		£000
		
			  Total expenditure on advertising 
		
		
			 2001–02 (Actual) 1,223.5 
			 2002–03 (Actual) 941.4 
			 2003–04 (Planned) 752.7 
			 2004–05 (Planned) 733 
		
	
	The total expenditure on advertising by 11 departments within the Northern Ireland Administration, excluding its Agencies, for the period 2001–02 to 2003–04 is set out in the table. Advertising budgets have not yet been agreed for 2004–05.
	£ million
	
		
			  Total expenditure on advertising 
		
		
			 2001–02 (Actual Outturn) 3.1 
			 2002–03 (Provisional Outturn) 2.6 
			 2003–04 (Planned) 2.6 
		
	
	The figure for 2001–02 excludes advertising expenditure of £0.9 million by the Industrial Development Board for Northern Ireland (IDE), a core part of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, whose activities, since 1 April 2002, have been undertaken by Invest Northern Ireland (an NDPB and thus outside the scope of the later figurework).

GPs

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the pressures general practitioners in Northern Ireland experience in dealing with their workload.

Des Browne: I am aware of the concerns of general practitioners about increasing workloads. If accepted by the profession, the proposed new General Medical Services Contract will offer GPs the means to better control their work, for example allowing practices to opt out of providing certain services, including out-of-hours care. It will also provide for the development of GP careers and promote the concept of partnership working at practice level and a range of demand management initiatives.

International Independent Commissionon Decommissioning

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been paid to date to each member of the International Independent Commission on Decommissioning.

Jane Kennedy: The Government do not hold the information in the form requested. However, copies of the audited accounts of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning have been placed in the Library. The 2002 accounts will be available following the audit which will be carried out at the end of 2003.

Neurosurgery

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many patients from Northern Ireland have received neurosurgery outside the Province in the last five years.

Des Browne: The information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Neurosurgery

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the longest time a patient awaiting neurosurgery admission, and deemed an emergency case, has waited in Northern Ireland in the last 12 months.

Des Browne: The information requested is not available.

Oversight Commissioner

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money has been spent to date in respect of (a) secretarial support, (b) research and (c) other staff for the Oversight Commissioner on Policing.

Jane Kennedy: Since May 2000 until 31 May 2003 the money spent is:
	
		Expenses for Oversight Commissioner on Policing -- £
		
			  Costs 
		
		
			 Secretarial Support 72,636 
			 Research 1,509 
			 Other Staff 416,398

Police Service of Northern Ireland

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the breakdown was of the budget for (a) the PSNI conference on ethnic minorities in October 2002 and (b) the PSNI conference on young people held in March 2003; and how many people attended each event.

Jane Kennedy: The PSNI conference, "New Directions; a Human Rights and Racial Equality Focus on Policing with Ethnic Minority Communities" held on 21 and 22 October 2002 was attended by approximately 230 delegates on both days.
	The PSNI conference on Young People and the Police, "Always Seen, Rarely Heard" took place on 25 and 26 March 2003 and was attended by 253 and 234 people respectively over the two days.
	The following table shows the breakdown of costs for these conferences.
	
		PSNI conference on young people in March 2003 -- £
		
			 Breakdown of costs PSNI conference on ethnic minorities in October 2002 PSNI conference on young people in March 2003 
		
		
			 Conference launch — 2,000 
			 Hire of services 6,607 4,277 
			 Professional services 19,133 6,462 
			 Conference packs 1,771 3,338 
			 Flights 6,381 — 
			 Video — 17,625 
			 Hotel 27,633 18,869

HEALTH

Accident and Emergency Services

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list seaside towns with a population in excess of 50,000 that have no accident and emergency provision for children within their boundaries.

David Lammy: This information is not held centrally. Accident and emergency (A&E) provision, including paediatric A&E services, is planned locally to meet the needs of the local population.

Accident and Emergency Services

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's policy is on the minimum throughput capacity for an NHS accident and emergency department to deal effectively with children's emergency admissions.

David Lammy: The Department expects all emergency patients, including children, to be taken in an emergency to the nearest appropriate hospital able to receive emergency admissions. Which hospital is most appropriate depends on the clinical condition of the patient. In some cases this will be the nearest hospital. In others it will be clinically more appropriate to stabilise the child and admit to a more distant hospital with specialist facilities.

Advocacy Services

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what plans he has to support the work of citizens advocacy groups, with specific reference to the delivery of the Valuing People White Paper;
	(2)  what its Department's policy is on the provision of advocacy for those who have (a) learning disabilities and (b) mental health problems;
	(3)  what role his Department has given to the British Institute of Learning Disabilities with regard to the distribution of moneys for the purpose of expanding advocacy services;
	(4)  what assessment he has made of the demand for advocacy services for those who have learning disabilities or mental health problems.

Jacqui Smith: The Government attaches great importance to the development of advocacy services as one of the means that enable the views of patients to be represented.
	Our policies for improving services for people with learning disabilities, their families and carers are set out in the White Paper "Valuing People: A New Strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century" (Cm 5086) published in March 2001. The importance of advocacy is a theme running throughout the White Paper: effective advocacy services can make a real difference to the lives of people with learning disabilities and their families by helping them to put forward their views and play an active part in planning and designing services.
	"Valuing People" announced the creation of two new funds, the Implementation Support Fund and the Learning Disability Development Fund, to provide central support for key aspects of the strategy. Money from the Implementation Support Fund is being used to support and develop self and citizen advocacy projects across the country. Two voluntary organisations, the British Institute of Learning Disabilities (BILD) and Values into Action (VIA) are running separate schemes to develop and fund citizen advocacy and self advocacy respectively on the Department of Health's behalf. Both organisations have steering groups to oversee the projects and to ensure fairness in the way the funds are allocated.
	£900,000 from the Implementation Support Fund was allocated to advocacy projects in 2001–02 and £1 million in 2002–03; £1 million is being allocated in 2003–04. A further £300,000 was allocated in 2001–02 to administer the funding schemes and support development workers to work with and strengthen existing advocacy schemes and help set up new ones: this amount increased to £400,000 in both 2002–03 and 2003–04.
	We announced in our report on learning disability, "Making Change Happen" (HC514–11), published in April 2003, that the Implementation Support Fund would continue until March 2006. The fund will support the same areas of work as at present. The learning disability task force, which has members drawn from both the self and citizen advocacy movements, will be involved in discussions about the detailed use of the Support Fund.
	Mental health policies pay equal importance to the use of advocacy. The draft Mental Health Bill, published on 25 June 2002, provides for the first time that specialist mental health advocacy must be available for all patients being treated under compulsory powers and their nominated persons. This new duty ensures that patients can have the help of specialist advocacy when it is most needed. There are also proposals in the draft Bill for safeguards, including access to advocacy, for some adult patients who have a long-term incapacity to consent and who are in a hospital or nursing home receiving treatment for a serious mental disorder.

Age Discrimination

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the efforts made to address age discrimination in the NHS since 2000;
	(2)  how many representations he has received relating to age discrimination in the NHS in each of the last five years.

Jacqui Smith: Standard One of the older people's national service framework (NSF) sets out the commitment to address age discrimination in access to health and social care. Since its publication in March 2001 significant progress has been made in starting to tackle age discrimination:
	There is a now a wider appreciation and awareness across health and social care of age discrimination as an issue.
	National health service organisations have checked their written polices to ensure they have no age bias. Only a very small number have been found that discriminated against older people. In these cases, procedures are being reviewed.
	Our monitoring through strategic health authorities at October 2002 indicates that, 91 per cent. of areas had strategic and operational plans to address identified age discrimination.
	Councils and care trusts have received guidance to make sure everyone has fair access to services—regardless of age.
	In November last year we released a computerised information tool to enable those implementing the NSF at local level to compare their treatment rates in 10 different hospital procedures, in relation to different age groups.
	We supported the development of a practice guide published in February 2002 by the King's Fund, "Auditing Age Discrimination—a practical approach to promoting equality in health and social care".
	A reflection of this new attitude, coupled with some of the wider Departmental initiatives, can be seen in hospitals' greater action in providing surgery for older patients:
	between 2000 and 2002, for example, breast cancer surgery for patients 85 and over rose by 13 per cent. and while coronary artery bypass grafts increased by 16 per cent. for those 65 or over, while the increase was 32 per cent. among patients 75 or over and 65 per cent. in the 85 plus age group.
	We have funded Age Concern to run eight events on age discrimination across England during the current year.
	Detailed, comprehensive information on representations of age discrimination made by organisations and individuals to the NHS are not collated centrally. The Department at a national level and local NHS organisations are continuing to work closely with older people and their representative bodies to identify individual and specific areas of concern and take action to address them.

Asbestos

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the actions his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies are taking to comply with the requirements of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002; whether he has made an estimate of the cost of compliance; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: The Department of Health, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies have implemented a programme of investigations to establish the presence, type and condition of asbestos containing materials in its buildings where the Department has an obligation to repair or maintain the building. Where asbestos containing materials have been found to be present, or have been presumed to be present, the risk posed by the asbestos has been reassessed and any additional measures required have been introduced.
	Where the Department occupies premises but has no obligation to repair or maintain them, written information and documented proof is being sought from the owner/leaseholder.
	Any additional measures required are normally included as part of ongoing maintenance but the cost of current works planned total about £1.245 million.

Audiology

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many digital hearing aids have been issued on the NHS since they became available.

Jacqui Smith: A total of 83,397 digital hearing aids were fitted as part of the modernising hearing aid services (MHAS) project by the end of April 2003. We do not know the number of digital hearing aids fitted by those sites that have access to the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency contract for digital hearing aids but are not part of the MHAS project, nor would we know of any digital hearing aids bought outside of the contract, as neither of these figures is collected centrally. Any site with the necessary training and equipment in place may apply for access to the procurement contract so that they can provide digital hearing aids on the national health service.

Audiology

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on hearing loss in England.

Jacqui Smith: The Medical Research Council Institute of Hearing Research estimates that there are now approximately 7.5 million people in England who are deaf or hearing impaired. Most of these people acquire their hearing impairment. It is estimated that 55.1 per cent. of people aged over 60 are deaf or hearing impaired compared, to 6.7 per cent. of the under 60s. The Royal National Institute for Deaf People estimates that 1.8 per cent. of young adults under 30 have a hearing impairment.

Audiology

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with the Royal National Institute for the Deaf; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: Officials of the Department of Health are working very closely with the Royal National Institute for the Deaf, who are project managing the modernisation of the hearing aid services programme.

Cardiac Services

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance is given to NHS trusts on prioritising young people for treatment when they have been diagnosed with cardiac abnormalities. [R]

Jacqui Smith: Young people diagnosed with cardiac abnormalities should be prioritised for treatment according to their medical need. This is a matter for the medical professionals involved in their care.
	The report of the paediatric and congenital cardiac services review group, which was published for consultation in November 2002, contains proposed quality standards for paediatric and congenital cardiac services. Ministers are currently considering the responses received to the consultation before determining the best way forward. A copy of the consultation report is available at www.doh.gov.uk/childcardiac/reviewnov02.htm and in the Library.

Cataracts

John MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has commissioned to indicate that the imaging of the iris would aggravate existing cataracts or accelerate their formation.

David Lammy: holding answer 9 June 2003
	The Department is not aware of any research that has been carried out that shows that the imaging of the iris can aggravate existing cataracts or accelerate their formation.

Chicken (Beef Protein)

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on hospitals to which chicken adulterated with beef protein has been supplied.

David Lammy: None of the chickens on the national contract negotiated by the NHS Purchasing and Supply was supplied by those companies identified by the Food Standards Agency as supplying products adulterated by pork or beef DNA.
	As a condition of the contract, suppliers agree to be independently audited. Quality assurance inspectors from the Meat and Livestock Commission make unannounced visits to suppliers' premises, inspect the products destined for the national health service and verify the chemical content in comparison with specifications laid out in the contract. The analysis also identifies water content and the DNA present. There have been no reports of pork or beef DNA being found in any sample.
	As an additional safeguard, if the inspectors find any implicated brand on a supplier's premises, suppliers are now required to provide evidence that the product is not going to be supplied to the national health service.
	Information about whether NHS trusts have purchased chickens from sources other than those suppliers on national contract is not available centrally.

Civil Contingencies

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what additional expenditure over and above that identified prior to 1 April 2002 (a) was spent in 2002–03 and (b) will be spent in 2003–04 on national and regional resilience work for (i) essential services, (ii) treatment of mass casualties and (iii) treatment of infectious disease; whether arrangements exist to release expenditure during the current financial year for resilience projects under consideration for (A) essential services, (B) treatment of mass casualties and (C) treatment of infectious disease; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: holding answer 16 May 2003
	The Government's Civil Contingencies Capabilities Programme has identified broad areas of activity under which Departments group specific projects, activity and programme expenditure. The purpose is to deliver broad generic capabilities which allow the United Kingdom to respond effectively to a wide range of disruptive challenges.
	In 2002–03 the Department of Health allocated some £85 million to strengthen national and regional resilience to ensure that the national health service is prepared and equipped to meet the demands of chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological threats to the public. This figure is £69 million over and above the £16 million spent in 2001–02. Through this funding, medical countermeasures, including vaccines, antibiotics, antidotes and respiratory support equipment, and personal protective equipment are now in place in the NHS. Although it is not possible to apportion specific expenditure to each area, this funding has served to strengthen overall capability and resilience to threats to essential services, the treatment of mass casualties and the treatment of infectious disease. For 2003–04, the Department of Health has allocated £98.5 million to this on-going programme of work, which is £82.5 million over and above the £16 million spent in 2001–02.
	The capabilities that we are working to deliver have been developed to allow the Government to deal with the fullest range of scenarios. Should a specific additional urgent operational need arise, at any point of the spending cycle, action would be taken to meet it. The public expenditure framework the Government have put in place provides the flexibility to deal with unexpected pressures.

Community Health Councils

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his Department had with community health councils regarding redundancy notices being issued before 4 June.

David Lammy: The Department has had regular discussions with the Association of Community Health Councils for England and Wales and the Community Health Council (CHC) unions about redundancy matters. There have also been regular meetings between the CHC leads and CHCs to discuss issues arising out of the abolition of CHCs. In addition, the Department has worked in partnership with the unions to produce the human resources framework which will support CHC staff to seek new employment and avoid redundancies.

Dental Health

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures have been undertaken to increase awareness of the importance of teeth brushing and reducing sugar in the diet to dental hygiene.

David Lammy: In England, primary care trusts are responsible for oral health promotion and currently they attach particular importance to ensuring that oral health is covered in initiatives such as Sure Start, health action zones and healthy living centres. In August 2001, to complement this work, we launched our Brushing for Life scheme, which targets families with young children in the 31 areas where dental decay is highest. There are currently 32 schemes running nationally. When carrying out developmental checks, health visitors demonstrate good tooth brushing practice and give the families a free pack containing a tube of fluoridated toothpaste, a toothbrush and a leaflet on oral hygiene.

Dentistry

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the recommended period is after which patients should be recalled for a dental check-up for (a) people under 18 and (b) people over 18; and what proportion of the population attended such a check-up on time in (i) England, (ii) each NHS region and (iii) each strategic health authority in each of the last six years.

David Lammy: While it is accepted that oral examinations at appropriate intervals are of value in maintaining oral health, there is little direct evidence to support a specific interval or to quantify the benefit. There is, therefore, a requirement for the practitioner to undertake a needs assessment exercise for each individual patient. Individual recall intervals result from a balanced consideration of the risks to maintaining oral health. General dental services remuneration arrangements do not normally permit payment for a recall examination where the same dentist received an examination fee in the previous five complete calendar months.
	The National Institute for Clinical Excellence has been asked to prepare guidance for the national health service in England and Wales, on the clinical and cost effectiveness of a dental recall examination for all patients at an interval based on the risk from oral disease.

Dentistry

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the need for a new school of dentistry in the UK.

David Lammy: holding answer 9 June 2003
	We are undertaking the first dental work force review since 1987, in consultation with the dental profession. We hope to publish a report later this year, together with work force planning assumptions for national health service work force development confederations and the Higher Education Funding Council for England. This will include any expansion in facilities for training for dental undergraduates if considered necessary by the review.

Dentistry

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the progress of the Dental Workforce Review.

David Lammy: We plan to publish a review of the primary care dental workforce for England later this year, which will inform workforce planning assumptions of the national health service workforce development confederations and the Higher Education Funding Council for England. This review is being undertaken in consultation with the dental profession. We will also ensure the review is regularly updated, to take account of our programme for the modernisation of NHS dentistry.

Domiciliary Oxygen

Julia Drown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will allow on prescription conserving devices for domiciliary oxygen;
	(2)  when he will announce the results of the review of domiciliary oxygen services initiated in March 2000.

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what plans he has for the provision of ambulatory oxygen to patients with lung disease;
	(2)  if he will make it his policy to allow (a) conserving devices for domiciliary oxygen and (b) ambulatory oxygen to be dispensed on prescription;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the benefit to patients of using conserving devices with domiciliary oxygen.

David Lammy: In 1999, the Department of Health asked the Royal College of Physicians to lead a multidisciplinary working party to devise new clinical guidelines for the use of domiciliary oxygen. Although the working party's terms of reference precluded making specific recommendations about alterations in service provision, a number of the guidelines had implications for the content of the existing domiciliary oxygen service and for the way in which the service is delivered. It was clear, therefore, that this vital resource—that has seen only one significant change, the introduction of oxygen concentrators, in the past 50 years—had become out of date, both in terms of the service offered to patients and its cost effectiveness. It was against this background that the then Under-Secretary of State, my noble Friend Lord Hunt of Kings Heath directed that a review of the domiciliary oxygen service should take place.
	This review is now complete and we are ready to move forward to create a modernised and integrated service for the provision of domiciliary oxygen.
	At present, domiciliary oxygen is ordered for patients by general practitioners. The service consists principally of the provision of oxygen either from large cylinders supplied by community pharmacies, or delivered by way of an oxygen concentrator, installed in the patient's home by a contractor.
	The modern, integrated service that is proposed represents a considerable advance on this organisational and service model.
	The new model will transfer responsibility for ordering oxygen for long-term oxygen therapy from general practitioners to specialist consultants in hospital. This will relieve general practitioners of the bureaucratic burden of writing prescriptions, effectively on doctors. (Patients who need long-term oxygen will invariably have their needs assessed by hospital staff). The hospital consultant will decide, in discussion with the patient, what the patient's needs for oxygen are. For example, many patients would benefit from having oxygen available in a form that allows then greater freedom of movement both in and outside the home than is possible with large cylinders or oxygen concentrators. General practitioners will continue to be able to prescribe oxygen for patients who need small amounts of oxygen.
	Once the hospital consultant or general practitioner has discussed and determined the patient's need for oxygen, it will be the responsibility of contractors to work closely with the patient and decide what technology, that is what type and method of oxygen supply, will best suit the patient's therapeutic need, and to provide it. These specialist contractors will be well placed to keep pace with developments in the technical aspects of service delivery, so patients will benefit from advances in technology as they are developed.
	Thus, the modernised integrated service represents a sensible division of responsibility in the provision of domiciliary oxygen services. It places clinical responsibility for assessing oxygen need with doctors, and places technical decisions on the best and most up to date method of delivery with service contractors. Over the next few months a specification for the provision of the integrated service will be drawn up. Contractors will be invited to tender against this specification and fully operational early in 2005. The current arrangements for the provision of domiciliary oxygen will continue as at present to cover this transitional period.

Donor Cards

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to encourage the provision of donor cards in GP surgeries.

David Lammy: General practitioners are the second highest source of applications of registration on the National Health Service Organ Donor Register and all GPs have access to supplies of the forms via the Organ Donor Line. UK Transplant is currently exploring partnerships with drug companies who can provide free distribution to surgeries through their representatives. In March 2003, all 11,000 GP surgeries in the United Kingdom were supplied with leaflets highlighting issues relevant to the Asian community. Leaflets were supplied in English with examples of versions in Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Gujerati and Hindi available to order.

Donor Cards

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were registered with donor cards in each of the last 10 years; and what steps the Government has taken to encourage a greater take-up.

David Lammy: The national health service organ donor register was established in 1994. The table shows the number of people that have registered each year. People are encouraged to join the organ donor through a number of initiatives, including when they apply for a driving licence, register with a new general practitioner, apply for a new passport or, where available, complete the organ donor registration form sent out by their local authorities annually when they check the electoral register. Additionally, UK Transplant runs publicity campaigns and targets action to raise the profile of organ donation, including specific advertising and information campaigns to increase organ donation from the South Asian and black African and Caribbean populations.
	
		
			  (Millions) 
		
		
			 1994 0.14 
			 1995 2.21 
			 1996 1.39 
			 1997 0.92 
			 1998 0.87 
			 1999 1.51 
			 2000 1.24 
			 2001 0.74 
			 2002 1.08 
			 Total(5) 10.10 
		
	
	(5) at end of 2002

Pharmacies

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pharmacies in England are included in the Essential Pharmacy Scheme.

David Lammy: For the year ending 31 March 2002, 259 pharmacies in England providing national health service pharmaceutical services received payments under the Essential Small Pharmacy Scheme.

Free NHS Treatment

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he is taking to prevent those not ordinarily resident in the UK receiving free NHS treatment.

John Hutton: Entitlement to free national health service hospital treatment is based on residence in the United Kingdom: anyone deemed "ordinarily resident" in the UK should not be charged for their treatment, other than statutory charges, such as those for NHS prescriptions. The National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989 set out the circumstances in which those not ordinarily resident should be charged for their treatment. It is for individual NHS trusts to apply the Regulations and establish whether a patient is eligible for free treatment. We will shortly be issuing revised guidance on the operation of the Regulations.

General Practitioners

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GPs there were (a) in England and (b) in each constituency in the last year for which figures are available.

John Hutton: The information is not available on a constituency basis. Information on the number of all general practitioners in England, broken down by primary care trust as at 31 March 2002 has been placed in the Library.

Hearing Aid Appointments

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the waiting time is for a hearing aid appointment at (a) the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and (b) the Princess Royal Hospital.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 10 June 2003
	Although the Department does not collect information on waiting times for hearing aid services centrally, the Royal National Institute for the Deaf's modernising hearing aid services project management team informs us that the out-patient waiting time in Shropshire for new patients, from general practitioner referral to having a hearing aid fitted is between 12 and 15 months. The waiting time is the same for both of the hospitals mentioned. Shropshire is currently negotiating to extend the private sector pilot, making use of high street hearing aid dispensers to increase NHS capacity, and reduce waiting times.

International Nurse Advice Line

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many calls have been received by the International Nurse Advice Line in each month since the scheme was started.

John Hutton: The national health service international nurses advice line received the following number of calls since the scheme began.
	Many calls are made on behalf of more than one nurse.
	
		
			  Number of calls received 
		
		
			 July 2002 0 
			 August 2002 1 
			 September 2002 33 
			 October 2002 28 
			 November 2002 11 
			 December 2002 39 
			 January 2003 50 
			 February 2003 30 
			 March 2003 16 
			 April 2003 22 
			 Total 102

Medical Defence Organisations

Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the implications for clinicians and patients of medical defence organisations making their indemnity available on a discretionary basis; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: holding answer 3 June 2003
	Professional indemnity should ensure that patients who have suffered harm receive the compensation to which they are entitled. Indemnity cover should be occurrence based, that is claims are met that arise from events when the clinician was covered but only come to light later, even if this is after the period of cover has ceased. Experience in the United Kingdom is that proper indemnity cover can be provided through membership of a defence society or a suitable insurance policy.

Medical Technologies

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary about the potential of identity cards to prevent those not ordinarily resident in the UK from receiving free NHS treatment.

John Hutton: My right hon. Friend the former Secretary of State for Health has had discussions with my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary on a range of issues relating to the potential uses of identity cards, including as a means of confirming eligibility for free national health service treatment. No decisions have yet been made.

Men's Health

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has conducted in (a) the UK and (b) other EU member states, into young male suicide rates and methods of reducing the rate in the UK.

Jacqui Smith: The Department of Health has conducted a number of pieces of research relating to the question.
	The national programme on forensic mental health research and development was established in April 1999 and built on the work of the research and development programme set up as part of the High Security Psychiatric Services Commissioning Board (first established in September 1996). The programme supports the evidence base for the provision of services for mentally disordered offenders by commissioning research and developing research capacity.
	Response from the forensic mental health (FMH) project on 'Aspects of Suicide among mentally disordered offenders' project.
	The National Research Register (www.update-software.com/nrr/) has 30 on-going projects listed on suicide and just over 200 recently completed projects.
	Some European studies on suicide.
	The Department has also recently commissioned a research project that will examine coroners' records for details of around 570 cases of suicide involving hanging (the most common method of suicide for men in England), firearms or self-poisoning. The study is being undertaken on a collaborative basis by researchers at the Universities of Oxford, Bristol and Manchester. It will report by the end of 2003 and will provide evidence to support the implementation of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England.
	In 2002 the Department of Health published a 'National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England'. This identified young men as a key high risk of suicide group and also refers to research which is being promoted by the National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE) into high risk groups such as young men.

NHS Appointments Commission

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many appointments to the position of Chairman have been made by the NHS Appointments Commission since its inception, broken down by (a) recognised medical or nursing qualification, (b) in-service professionals from medicine, nursing and other clinical or health-related backgrounds and (c) other backgrounds, experience and qualifications.

David Lammy: Since it was established, the National Health Service Appointments Commission has appointed 370 chairs to NHS boards. Information on the precise categories identified in the question is not available. However, 38 of those appointed as chairs have declared a medical, nursing or other background in professions allied to medicine. People who are currently employed by a health service body are statutorily disqualified from appointment as a NHS chair or non-executive director.

NHS Direct

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the Scottish Executive regarding the application of experience from the operation of NHS Direct in (a) reducing staff turnover, (b) adopting family friendly work routines and (c) general call handling to NHS24.

David Lammy: NHS 24 has worked closely with NHS Direct in developing the service and is committed to continuous dialogue with the purpose of shared learning and good practice for the benefit of staff and service users.

NHS Managers

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many managers within the NHS earned (a) between £20,000 and £40,000 per annum, (b) £41,000 to £60,000 per annum, (c) £61,000 to £80,000 per annum, (d) £81,000 to £100,000 per annum and (e) over £100,000 per annum in each year since 1997.

John Hutton: The available figures for health authorities, National Health Service trusts, primary care trusts and special health authorities are shown in the table.
	
		Number
		
			  1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 
		
		
			 £40,000 to £60,000 4,768 5,255 6,323 6,076 
			 £60,000 to £80,000 1,339 1,464 1,544 1,026 
			 £80,000 to £100,000 419 535 650 421 
			 Over £100,000 97 127 193 259 
			 Total 6,623 7,381 8,710 7,782 
		
	
	Notes:
	(6) The accounts and summarisation forms do not distinguish between medical and non-medical staff in health authorities and special health authorities. The figures in the Table therefore include some medical staff who are not managers. The figures also include medical directors in NHS Trusts.
	(7) NHS locally published accounts now give individual details of earning and names of senior staff and directors in accordance with the Greenbury Code. This level of detail is not collected centrally so comparable figures are not available for 2001–02 onwards.
	(8) Figures for staff in health authorities in 2000–01 are not yet available as they are not disclosed in the accounts or summarisation schedules. Banding: Staff remuneration is not itemised in bands of less than £40,000 to £50,000
	Sources:
	Health authority audited accounts 1997–98 and 1998–9
	Health authority audited summarisation forms 1999–2000
	NHS Trust audited summarisation schedules 1997–98 to 2001–02
	Primary care trust audited summarisation schedules 2000–01 to 2001–02
	Special health authority audited accounts 1997.

Oldchurch Hospital

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to reduce the mortality rate at Oldchurch Hospital in Romford.

John Hutton: The responsibility for improving mortality rates at Oldchurch Hospital rests with, initially, Barking, Havering and Redbridge National Health Service Trust who are accountable to North East London Strategic Health Authority.
	I understand that work is underway to look at the trend in mortality rates and the following has been put in place by the audit team and medical director at the trust:
	A trust-wide mortality group lead the by medical director and with the associate medical directors to review any unexpected data
	Monthly mortality review groups at speciality level to review all deaths
	Data is now available via the trust's intranet enabling clinicians to monitor their own mortality data and identify areas for audit

Parliamentary Questions

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will reply to the question tabled on 19 May by the hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich, ref. 115174, on diagnostic and treatment centres.

John Hutton: I replied to my hon. Friend's question on 10 June.

Parliamentary Questions

Keith Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his holding answer of 16 May 2003, when he will reply to the question, ref. 113929.

John Hutton: I replied to my right hon. Friend on Monday 19 May 2003, Official Report, column 613–14W.

Partnership Agreements

Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to conclude a partnership agreement with the trade unions representing the staff in his Department.

David Lammy: The Department of Health signed up to a Partnership Working Agreement in April 2001. This agreement was based on the national model and was signed with the following unions:
	Public and Commercial Services
	Prospect
	Association of First Division Civil Servants
	Department Trade Union side.
	The Department greatly values this development.

Peto Institute

Jane Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many UK nationals have benefited from reduced rates when attending the Peto Institute since the payment by the UK Government to the Institute in 1991.

Jacqui Smith: The Department of Health does not collect information regarding the Peto Institute. However, the following information has been obtained from the British embassy in Hungary. According to Article 4 of the bilateral agreement, United Kingdom residents have received a reduction in conductive education fees on the standard fees for non-Hungarians since 14 September 1998. In addition, some British students receive conductive training, which will enable them to provide conductive education in the UK.
	For the 2000–01 academic year, 12 UK residents received conductive training and 18 received conductive education. An extra 15 students received conductive education during the 2001 summer camp. For the 2001–02 academic year, 18 UK residents received conductive education and 18 received conductive training. In addition, reduced rates have been offered to UK residents staying at either the Peto Institute's hostel or hotel.

Prescription Charges

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the increases in prescription charges since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: The increases in the prescription charges since 1997 are shown in the table.
	
		£
		
			  Prescription Charge Cash Increase 
		
		
			 1997 5.65 0.15 
			 1998 5.80 0.15 
			 1999 5.90 0.10 
			 2000 6.00 0.10 
			 2001 6.10 0.10 
			 2002 6.20 0.10 
			 2003 6.30 0.10

Prime Care

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many contracts and to what value have been awarded to Prime Care; how many complaints have been received about Prime Care in (a) 2002 and (b) 2003; and what evaluation he has carried out of the overnight speed of response of (i) Prime Care and (ii) NHS Direct.

John Hutton: holding answer 20 May 2003
	Contracts with Prime Care are let locally by general practitioners, GP co-operatives and others. Information is not held centrally on their number value, or any related complaints.
	The quality of out-of-hours primary medical care services is now being assured through the introduction of new arrangements for accrediting providers. Under this system, only organised out-of-hours providers which meet and maintain specified quality standards will be accredited by primary care trusts (PCTs) to continue providing services. The quality standards, which include responsiveness, are those recommended by The Carson Review of out-of-hours services, which reported in 2000. Both NHS Direct and Prime Care are expected to meet these standards and their performance is for PCTs to monitor as part of the new accreditation system.

Public Appointments

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he is taking to encourage participation of disabled people in public appointments in the national health service.

David Lammy: The Government are making every effort to encourage more disabled people to serve on national health service boards. While the overall proportion on the boards of NHS trusts, primary care trusts (PCTs) and health authorities (HAs) is lower than we would wish, considerable progress has been made in recent years, with the number on boards having risen from 29 in May 1997 to 119 today.
	The NHS Appointments Commission has been set the following goals and objectives in relation to the appointment of disabled people to NHS boards, to be achieved by December 2005.
	Goals:
	Five per cent. of all those appointed to be disabled. At present, the figure is 3.4 per cent.
	Three per cent. of chairs to be disabled. At present, the figure is 2.3 per cent.
	Objectives:
	Encouragement will be given to the use of "advertorials" in publications aimed at disabled people to further publicise the opportunities available.
	The Appointments Commission will ensure that appropriate equal opportunities training is provided for those sitting on non-executive interview panels.
	The Appointments Commission will ensure that a guaranteed interview scheme is offered to disabled people meeting the minimum criteria for appointments.
	Guidance will be given to NHS trusts, HAs and PCTs on the need to make appropriate provision for any disabled board members, for example, audio loops, meeting papers in braille, use of wheel chair ramps, etc.
	Targeted advertising on NHS appointments will be included in publications aimed at disabled people.
	Advertisements for NHS appointments will contain the words: "applications will be welcomed regardless of gender, race, disability or sexual orientation."
	Records to be maintained on disabled candidates at all stages of the appointments process, identifying proportions applying and those sifted or interviewed out etc.
	This issue is currently being addressed on an inter-departmental basis.

Radiographers

Keith Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to change the working hours of radiographers in NHS trust hospitals under the Agenda for Change programme.

John Hutton: The Agenda for Change package, agreed for testing in early implementer sites, would mean that radiographers, who currently work 35 hours, would gradually increase to the standard 37½ working work. From the date of implementation for four years they would continue to work 35 hours per week, followed by 36 hours for the next two years and 37 hours for one year after this, before finally moving to the new standard 37½ hours in year eight.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the additional risks of (a) heart attacks, (b) strokes and (c) peripheral gangrene are for people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis;
	(2)  what proportion of rheumatoid arthritis patients he estimates will develop accelerated atheroma formation in their arteries as a result of their rheumatoid arthritis condition;
	(3)  what proportion of patients with rheumatoid arthritis he estimates would benefit from anti-TNF therapy.

Jacqui Smith: All patients with rheumatoid arthritis have an increased risk of developing atheroma, a pathological process that may lead to an increased incidence of coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and peripheral blood vessel disease. The exact mechanism of atheroma formation in rheumatoid arthritis is unclear, but may be associated with the vasculitis observed in rheumatoid arthritis. Peripheral gangrene may result from atheroma in peripheral blood vessels, and sometimes from vasculitis itself. On average, life expectancy is reduced in rheumatoid arthritis by about five years and atheroma is a key contributing cause.
	In March 2002, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence recommended the use of Etanercept and Infliximab for rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis affects all ages and ethnic groups and up to 1 per cent. of the population may be affected by it. We expect that about 15,000 people will benefit from anti-TNF therapy.

Streptococcal Infections

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of best practice in the treatment of Group B Streptococcal infections in (a) the USA and (b) the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: The Department of Health has not done any assessment of best practice in the treatment of this disease in the United States of America or the European Union.
	This is a matter of clinical practice, which we know has been receiving much research attention. We expect that obstetric units will have in place a standard form of practice based on the various guidance which currently exists while awaiting consideration of the guidelines, currently being produced by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, which we expect will be published in December 2003. These guidelines will take account of all published work in this area.

Transplant Organs

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many organs on the Organ Register were available for (a) liver transplants and (b) heart and lung transplants in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: Information on the number of livers and cardiothoracic (heart/lung) organs donated for transplant in the United Kingdom between 1998 and 2002 are shown in the table.
	
		
			  1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Total 
		
		
			 Livers 653 650 663 661 687 3,314 
			 Hearts 287 251 211 201 160 1,110 
			 Lungs 278 272 233 247 220 1,250 
			 Total 1,218 1,173 1,107 1,109 1,067 5,674